Albedo Australia

Last week's CO2 level at Mauna Loa has been published by N.O.A.A..

Recent CO2 Monthly Means at Mauna Loa Observatory

Download the Albedo Offset Calculator that gives offset values for albedo increases to local areas in square meters and global offsets for increases to urban albedo globally in watts, CO2e, Dollar value and as a percentage of current global warming.

Download the Albedo Offset Calculators version 7.2 installation file - 'Albedov72.zip'

There are three main ways to stop global warming and climate change from getting worse and that will, one hopes, enable us to manage our global temperature:-

1.	2.	3.
To reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs)	To sink carbon from the atmosphere in forests and oceans	To reduce solar heating of the lower atmosphere

The first two are well known but the third is not. There are quite a few methods that have been suggested to cool the lower atmosphere by using albedo, a surface or an object's reflectivity, to reflect the Sun's energy and help avoid catastrophic climate change.

Proposals such as whitening clouds, making clouds, covering large areas with white plastic, increasing the albedo of grasses and plants, reflective dust in the upper atmosphere and space shields of various sorts.

So far, the only use of albedo to be advocated by the UN's IPCC, is to increase the solar reflectivity of our cities based upon the work of Hashem Akbari et al., "The Heat Island Group", in 1998. They advocate doing so because of the energy savings and reduction in associated emissions.

The study, on Los Angeles in the United States of America, showed that for a 7.5% increase in albedo, or solar reflectivity, 50-60% reductions in electricity for cooling, as well as, 30+% reductions in peak loads for air-conditioners, fewer photochemical smog days with reduced health costs and a more pleasant environment around 5 degrees Farenheit cooler, 2.8 degrees Centigrade, could be achieved by strategically planting trees and increasing the albedo of roads, roofs and footpaths, as well as, the walls of many buildings.

Potential savings for Los Angeles are estimated to be half a billion dollars USD annually when health cost savings are included.

Buildings with high solar reflectivity (and low emissivity) use less energy for heating and also last longer than dark coloured structures that are subjected to greater daily extremes of expansion and contraction.

Chicago: Albedo Increase = Temperature Decrease

Chicago began increasing urban albedo and vegetation in 1995. The satellite results show that increasing urban albedo actually brought about an even greater decrease in local temperatures than expected. Visit Chris Mackay's website to view a satellite based comparison of urban cooling strategies.
Chris Mackay et al..

Hotspots in Washington DC

If we address "Hotspots" then not only will we lower temperatures locally, save power for heating and cooling, as well as, reduce our CO2 emissions. We will also be lowering temperatures and mitigating climate change globally.

30Gt Emissions Reduction Required

View Graph

The Heat Island Group's proposal to increase the albedo of our 100 largest cities would provide an estimated 40+ Gigatonne CO2e offset to our global emissions and save on emissions. This would delay catastrophic climate change, hopefully long enough for us to get on track with regards to reducing our emissions.

The graph above is from Art Rosenfeld's PALENC (Passive And Low Energy Cooling) presentation and shows Stern's "Business as Usual" A2 scenario and the required 30 Gt reduction in emissions necessary to keep global warming below 2 degrees Centigrade.

Using solar reflective, high albedo coatings, as well as, painting interior walls with low emissive, reflective paints and using heat reflective window coatings will save up to 60%, or more, on heating and cooling costs for an existing building, as well as, help to reduce a City's heat island. Utilising such materials in new buildings costs little or nothing in most cases.

If we need to "do something" about reducing global warming then choosing solar reflective materials and generally increasing our collective albedo will achieve immediate results. A minimum solar reflectivity requirement in building and road construction codes would be a good start. Australia's minimum 6 star building standard points to high albedo roofs and walls as a way to achieve this standard.

The main benefit of employing solar reflective materials in buildings comes from the large reduction in emissions for electricity and peak loads for heating and cooling, as well as, the enormous health savings and longer life expectancies from reduced photochemical smog in many cities.