Are cooler surfaces a cost-effect mitigation of urban heat islands?

Journal Article · Thu Apr 20 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Urban Climate

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2017.04.009· OSTI ID:1377539

Pomerantz, Melvin  ^[1]

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1. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Much research has gone into technologies to mitigate urban heat islands by making urban surfaces cooler by increasing their albedos. To be practical, the benefit of the technology must be greater than its cost. Here, this report provides simple methods for quantifying the maxima of some benefits that albedo increases may provide. The method used is an extension of an earlier paper that estimated the maximum possible electrical energy saving achievable in an entire city in a year by a change of albedo of its surfaces. The present report estimates the maximum amounts and monetary savings of avoided CO₂ emissions and the decreases in peak power demands. As examples, for several warm cities in California, a 0.2 increase in albedo of pavements is found to reduce CO₂ emissions by < 1 kg per m² per year. At the current price of CO₂ reduction in California, the monetary saving is < US$ 0.01 per year per m² modified. The resulting maximum peak-power reductions are estimated to be < 7% of the base power of the city. In conclusion, the magnitudes of the savings are such that decision-makers should choose carefully which urban heat island mitigation techniques are cost effective.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Building Technologies Office
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 1377539
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1550500
• Journal Information: Urban Climate, Vol. 24, Issue C; ISSN 2212-0955
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
Urban heat island mitigation
Maximum electrical saving
Carbon dioxide avoided
Peak power reduction
City-wide annual
Cost effective