Compare and Contrast

by Iain Murray on May 26, 2009 · 2 comments

in Energy, Environment, Global Warming, Regulation

Bjorn Lomborg, November 2007:

…although it may seem almost comically straightforward, one of the best temperature-reducing approaches is very simple: paint things white. Cities have a lot of black asphalt and dark, heat-absorbing structures. By increasing reflection and shade, a great deal of heat build-up can be avoided. Paint most of a city and you could lower the temperature by 10C.

Steven Chu, May 2009:

Professor Steven Chu, speaking at the opening of the St James’s Palace Nobel Laureate Symposium, for which The Times is media partner, said this simple and “completely benign” approach to “geo-engineering” could have a vast impact at low cost. By lightening all paved surfaces and roofs to the colour of cement, it would be possible to reduce carbon emissions by as much as taking all the world’s cars off the roads for 11 years, he said.

I ask you to compare and contrast because one of these men is an “evil delayer” (or worse), and the other a planetary savior. Yet the savior is now adopting a policy advocated for two years by the “delayer.”

Perhaps there is hope for the global warming debate yet.

Tagged as: bjorn lomborg, carbon emissions, global warming, no regrets, no regrets policies, roofs, Steven Chu, white cities

{ 2 comments }

Russell Seitz May 28, 2009 at 9:11 am: OK, Iain- compare and contrast yours truly's 21 August 2000 FORBES column with Bjorn's 18 November 2007 GUARDIAN –
PAINT THE TOWN WHITE by Russell Seitz
PAINT IT WHITE by Bjorn Lomborg
RS: the greenhouse effect is not driven by fossil fuel burning, but by the power of the sun..The real problem is Earth's low albedo–it reflects only a small fraction of the sun's energy because most of its surface is dark compared to a snowfield or a coat of white paint.
BL: Although it may seem almost comically straightforward, one of the best temperature-reducing approaches is very simple: paint things white.
RS:Such white surfaces reflect three times as much as bare rock or desert soil, and up to ten times as much as deep water or black asphalt paving.
BL:Cities have a lot of black asphalt and dark, heat-absorbing structures. By increasing reflection and shade, a great deal of heat build-up can be avoided.
RS:we could lighten up the hundreds of thousands of square miles of roofs and roadways that already exist, starting with those expanses of asphalt that already contribute to cities being warmer than the countryside.
BL:By increasing reflection and shade, a great deal of heat build-up can be avoided. Paint most of a city and you could lower the temperature by 10C.
RS:this "White House Effect"…can suffice to raise the reflectiveness of most natural surfaces from 25% or less to 75% or more, at a materials cost on the order of around $250,000 per square mile. America's annual per capita share of such a global solution would cost as much as a couple of gallons of gas…. some things are cheaper than energy conservation.
BL:These options are simple, obvious, and cost-effective.
Alex Harris May 29, 2009 at 8:07 am: Same thing happened with tire inflation during the campaign.