KOO KOO KRAZY!

[H8tank]

President Obama's energy adviser has suggested all the world's roofs should be painted white as part of efforts to slow global warming.

 

the Professor described climate change as a "crisis situation"...

 

He said lightening roofs and roads in urban environments would offset the global warming effects of all the cars in the world for 11 years.

 

"If you look at all the buildings and if you make the roofs white and if you make the pavement more of a concrete type of colour rather than a black type of colour and if you do that uniformally, that would be the equivalent of... reducing the carbon emissions due to all the cars in the world by 11 years – just taking them off the road for 11 years," he said.

 

11 years huh?

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews...hite-roofs.html

 

This is a joke, right?

[wiegie]

yes, it does seem ridiculous--although when I lived in an upper apartment of a four-apartment flat that had a flat, black tar roof and it was summer in St. Louis, I often thought about painting the roof white. (Seriously--if I didn't have all of the windows open, my apartment would easily reach 120 on some days and that, plus the humidity in St. Louis was just brutal).

 

Additionally, I have thought for a long time that a really good invention would be a type of shingle that would be dark when it was cold out and then lightened as the temperature increased.

[westvirginia]

So, uh, where's all this empirical "science"...

[CaP'N GRuNGe]

You didn't have to edit his Wikipedia page H8...

 

Steven Chu, Ph.D (born February 28, 1948),[3] is an American physicist and currently the 12th United States Secretary of Energy. As a scientist, Chu is known for his research in cooling and trapping of atoms with laser light, which won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997.[3] At the time of his appointment as Energy Secretary, he was a professor of physics and molecular and cellular biology at the University of California, Berkeley and the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where his research was concerned primarily with the study of biological systems at the single molecule level.[1] He is a vocal advocate for more research into alternative energy and nuclear power, arguing that a shift away from fossil fuels is essential to combat global warming.[4][5][6] US Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Tuesday the Obama administration wanted to paint roofs an energy-reflecting white. Its sad that a Nobel Laureate can't use any common sense.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Chu

Edited May 27, 2009 by CaP'N GRuNGe

[Savage Beatings]

I swear a few years ago there was a child inventor that I saw on television (I can't find a link to it anywhere though) and this kid invented shingles that were both black and white but reflected differently depending upon the angle of the sun during the day. It was actually a fairly brilliant idea, especially for a little kid.

 

Question, how large of a carbon footprint would be left in the manufacturing and application of all of the paint that it would take to paint the rooftops and roads white?

[CaP'N GRuNGe]

From his resume alone, Steven Chu is no dummy.

[Caveman_Nick]

Additionally, I have thought for a long time that a really good invention would be a type of shingle that would be dark when it was cold out and then lightened as the temperature increased.

 

This could be a good idea. The caveat being that if a home is properly insulated, the color of the shingle won't matter too much. The physics of heat transfer and how insulation between a roof and an attic, and then between an attic and the main living area of the home isolates the living area from the majority of the heat are a little complicated.

 

I can see the shingles being a big issue in a home that isn't properly insulated, but then if the homeowner isn't willing to spend the $ on the insulation, why would they spend it on new shingles?

 

Interesting concept, though.

[detlef]

From his resume alone, Steven Chu is no dummy.

But he looks silly and H8 always make so much sense, so I think I'm going to have to side with the tank on this one.

[CaP'N GRuNGe]

But he looks silly and H8 always make so much sense, so I think I'm going to have to side with the tank on this one.

 

No sillier than having a mexican food place with dogs on the menu I guess.

[wiegie]

This could be a good idea. The caveat being that if a home is properly insulated, the color of the shingle won't matter too much. The physics of heat transfer and how insulation between a roof and an attic, and then between an attic and the main living area of the home isolates the living area from the majority of the heat are a little complicated.

 

I can see the shingles being a big issue in a home that isn't properly insulated, but then if the homeowner isn't willing to spend the $ on the insulation, why would they spend it on new shingles?

 

Interesting concept, though.

I'm not actually sure if it is a good idea or not, but it was something that popped into my head once and I figured I would throw it out there.

[Caveman_Nick]

I'm not actually sure if it is a good idea or not, but it was something that popped into my head once and I figured I would throw it out there.

 

I am not sure it is a good idea, but it's not a bad idea either. It could be useful, or just a wash.

Edited May 27, 2009 by Caveman_Nick

[Savage Beatings]

Additionally, I have thought for a long time that a really good invention would be a type of shingle that would be dark when it was cold out and then lightened as the temperature increased.

 

 

I swear a few years ago there was a child inventor that I saw on television (I can't find a link to it anywhere though) and this kid invented shingles that were both black and white but reflected differently depending upon the angle of the sun during the day. It was actually a fairly brilliant idea, especially for a little kid.

 

If you're going to rip off someone's idea, why pick on a little kid?

[westvirginia]

If you're going to rip off someone's idea, why pick on a little kid?

 

Because those'r the only people wiegie is bigger than?

[Savage Beatings]

The only other refernce I could find online was from another blog... some woman last year wrote:

 

I saw a video with a child inventor who’s idea was to have roofs that had a step build. The horizontal sides of the steps would be painted white to reflect sunlight when the sun was high in the sky (summer) and black on the vertical sides of the stairs to retain the heat (winter). Looked like a great idea, especially in temperate climates.

[Azazello1313]

I see a red door and I want it painted whtie

No colors anymore I want them to turn white

I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes

I have to turn my head until my darkness goes

Hmm, hmm, hmm,...

I wanna see it painted, painted white

white as cheney, white as bronco billy's ponies

I wanna see the sun reflected back to the sky

I wanna see it painted, painted, painted, painted white

Yeah!

[Big John]

Well, he is in the White House now.

[wirehairman]

Looked at putting the solar reflective shingles on the house we're currently building. They're supposed to reduce the AC bill by 60% and come in most of the more popular colors, including black. Unfortunately, they are over 3 times as expensive as traditional asphalt shingles and just not in the budget.

 

 

I could probably recover the cost over the life of the shingles if I lived in one of the warmer, southern states, but we only use the AC two to two and a half months of the year.

[Savage Beatings]

What if all people of color in the world were forced to go through some kind of Michael Jackson skin bleaching process? Would that solve global warming?

[westvirginia]

So, uh, where's all this empirical "science"...

 

:crickets:

 

What if all people of color in the world were forced to go through some kind of Michael Jackson skin bleaching process? Would that solve global warming?

 

[bushwacked]

:crickets:

Try google.

 

ETA: not sure about "white roof" research but reflectivity of sunlight or albido and how it relates to temperature rise in the atmosphere is hardly a new-found phenomena.

Edited May 27, 2009 by bushwacked

[polksalet]

Not to go all "using my brain here" but let's think about this. In the north where many if not most of the major cities are isn't more energy used to warm the place in the winter than cooling the place in the summer? I remember RR or someone mentioning this once here. If so then painting everything white would reduce the amount of heat in the summer and winter as well. Would this not cause more total energy to be used and increase "global warming" accordingly?

Edited May 27, 2009 by polksalet

[wiegie]

Not to go all "using my brain here" but let's think about this. In the north where many if not most of the major cities are isn't more energy used to warm the place in the winter than cooling the place in the summer? I remember RR or someone mentioning this once here. If so then painting everything white would reduce the amount of heat in the summer and winter as well. Would this not cause more total energy to be used and increase "global warming" accordingly?

That is why the world needs my chameleon shingles.

Edited May 27, 2009 by wiegie