The
Daily Telegraph: Steven Chu, the US Energy Secretary, has
proposed fitting white roofs to buildings in over to save
energy and money on air conditioning by deflecting the sun's
rays.More pale surfaces could also slow global warming by
reflecting heat into space rather than allowing it to be
absorbed by dark surfaces where it is trapped by greenhouse
gases and increases temperatures.In a wide-ranging discussion
at the three-day
Nobel
laureate Symposium in London, Chu described climate change
as a "crisis situation", and called for a whole host of
measures to be introduced, from promoting energy efficiency to
renewable energy such as wind, wave and solar.Chu's comments
are backed up by
research
at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory which suggests
white roofs can cut energy bills by 20%.
