The impact of summer heat islands on cooling energy consumption and CO{sub 2} emissions [electronic resource].
- Published
- Washington, D.C. : United States. Dept. of Energy, 1988.
Oak Ridge, Tenn. : Distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Dept. of Energy. - Physical Description
- 12 pages : digital, PDF file
- Additional Creators
- United States. Department of Energy and United States. Department of Energy. Office of Scientific and Technical Information
Access Online
- Restrictions on Access
- Free-to-read Unrestricted online access
- Summary
- It has been well documented that summer heat islands increase the demand for air conditioning. Several studies have suggested developing guidelines to mitigate this negative effect, on both micro- and meso-scales. Reducing summer heat islands saves cooling energy, reduces peak demand, and reduces the emission of CO₂ from electric power plants. This paper summarizes some of the efforts to quantify the effects of techniques to reduce heat islands. In particular, the authors summarize simulations they have made on the effects of plating trees and switching to light colored surfaces in cities. The results indicate that these techniques effectively reduce building cooling loads and peak power in selected US cities, and are the cheapest way to save energy and reduce CO₂ emissions. This paper compares the economics of technologies to mitigate summer heat islands with other types of conservation measures. The authors estimate the cost of energy conserved by planting trees and recoating surfaces on a national level and compare it with the cost of energy conserved by increasing efficiencies in electrical appliances and cars. Early results indicate that the cost of energy saved by controlling heat islands is less than 1{cents}/kWh, more attractive than efficient electric appliances (∼ 2{cents}/kWh), and far more attractive than new electric supplies (∼10{cents}/kWh). In transportation, the cost of conserving a gallon of gasoline, though far more attractive than buying gasoline at current prices, is again more expensive than controlling heat islands. By accounting for the carbon content of the fuels used for power generation and transportation, the authors restate these comparisons in terms of cents per avoided pound of carbon emitted as CO₂. The results show that the cost of avoided CO₂ from planting trees/increasing albedo is about 0.3--1.3{cents}/lb. of carbon; for buying efficient electric appliances, 2.5{cents}/lb. of carbon; and for efficient cars, 10{cents}/lb. of carbon.
- Report Numbers
- E 1.99:lbl--25179
E 1.99: conf-9708168--
conf-9708168--
lbl--25179 - Subject(s)
- Other Subject(s)
- Note
- Published through SciTech Connect.
08/01/1988.
"lbl--25179"
" conf-9708168--"
"DE97054241"
ACEEE summer study on energy efficiency in buildings, Pacific Grove, CA (United States), 28 Aug - 3 Sep 1997.
Rosenfeld, A.; Huang, J.; Rainer, L.; Akbari, H.; Taha, H.; Martien, P.
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab., Environmental Energy Technologies Div., CA (United States) - Funding Information
- AC03-76SF00098
View MARC record | catkey: 14078556