Reflective scientist sees a red roof and he wants to paint it white

SYDNEY’S red-tiled roofs should be painted white to help battle global warming. That is one idea of a thermodynamics expert who believes that besides cutting carbon dioxide emissions, we should also be cooling the world by reflecting solar energy.

Eric Hu, from Melbourne’s Deakin University, said that while red house roofs absorbed heat from the sun, white ones would bounce energy back into space and “it will never come back”.

He also proposed painting roads white, and building giant mirrors in the outback.

Writing in the International Journal of Global Energy Issues, Dr Hu proposed an energy trading program that would work alongside carbon trading. To earn energy credits, businesses would have to cool the world by “dumping” energy into space.

Sydney Morning Herald