-the albedo effect is the reflection of sunlight that reaches the earth, back into space; this keeps the planet cool
-if the sea ice melts, this albedo effect diminishes, and we get cooked, this is not nice
-some peoples, like professors, think they can geo-engineer the planet a bit to enhance the albedo effect (see link about creating more clouds that reflect sunlight)
-other peoples, mostly not professors, think that we should all paint our roofs white; but this paint is made from petroleum so why would we use that?
-my idea is much more festive, because we can drink our way out of the problem, a bit
1. some agave plants are pretty 'white', not green
2. they grow in dry regions even in deserts
3. their color is often lighter than the color of the soil
4. we plant these agaves on huge patches of desert, like a huge reflector
5. then we continuously harvest them and replant them; from the harvested batches we produce billions of kiloliters of alcohol, more specifically Tequila!!!
6. or we use the alcohol to make carbon neutral ethanol
7. as they grow, the plants store CO2 from the atmosphere, which is an added advantage
8. I can prove to you that tequila agave plants are whiter than the soil in which they grow - a small collection is shown in the picture
-maybe we can build a solar power plant at the Sahara's/Sahel's coast to desalinate water and drip irrigate our huge tequila plantation with it
In short, the drunker we become the better our planetary albedo management skills!!!-- django, May 09 2007 Artificial clouds to enhance albedo effect http://news.bbc.co....grammes/6354759.stmFuturistic fleet of 'cloudseeders' [django, May 09 2007] Collection of agaves http://i3.photobuck...do.jpg?t=1178723554They are relatively white [django, May 09 2007] Tequila shortage http://www.marysuea...May06/news05069.htmThis idea would be good for that [normzone, May 10 2007] TQM (Tequila management) TQMreminded me [shinobi, May 10 2007] related in a drunk out of sorts way Christo_20and_20Jea..._20global_20warming [jhomrighaus, May 10 2007] Sorry I'm home so late, Honey, I was participating in the TAM system. <hic>-- Galbinus_Caeli, May 09 2007 Mixing alcohol and saving the planet - these are definitely two of my favorite things.-- shapu, May 09 2007 Perhaps we can design some sort of combustion engine that runs on this product's natural waste product, vomit.-- theleopard, May 09 2007 Is part of the problem with this the notion that agave plants are reflective? I'm not sure that's so, not as highly reflective as global ice is for sure. I'm no kind of scientist, but it just seems like the big thing for the ice has going for is actual reflectivity, not just color.
I am all for saving the planet through tequila usage though!-- Noexit, May 09 2007 Drinking tequilla, and walking the planet are two of *my* favorite things.
AND DON'T FORGET THE SALT AND LIMES!
(Salt is white and reflective too!)-- blissmiss, May 09 2007 Patron, Herradura, y Porfidio, anejo por favor.-- normzone, May 09 2007 Healthy vegetation is intensely reflective in the infrared bands, and infrared is what we need to get rid of, so this is very good. (Although I don't know how agave looks in infrared.)-- baconbrain, May 09 2007 Drink enough tequila and you won't be able to do much of anything else including consume fossil fuels. [+]-- nuclear hobo, May 10 2007 Non-fermented-and-distilled agave juice isn't half bad either... but using the natural waste product of vomit as an energy source should definitely be looked into.-- ye_river_xiv, May 10 2007 clever...reminded me of a similarly named idea of mine (linked)-- shinobi, May 10 2007 The good thing about plants is that they reflect heat so that they don't get hot and use the other light energy in photosynthesis.
The only problem with drinking the result, it that I think the fermentation process produces CO2 as well as alcohol and I think that the metabolisation of alcohol also produces CO2.
What you need is to lock up the carbon by building something out of it like insulation or something, thus simultaneously reducing the amount of fuel we need to heat/cool buildings.-- marklar, May 10 2007 I once suggested the creation of fields of white crops. In fact I adocated the painting white of the entire state of Nebraska, but I'd settle for the elimination of Texas, which may happen anyway, given a big enough hurricane..... just keep heating up that Gulf of Mexico with those 4x4s-- xenzag, May 10 2007 I once suggested painting Antartica white (when the icecap metls). I should dig that idea up.-- DrCurry, May 10 2007 What're the comparative albedos of vomit and pavement?
As long as you were sick on relatively dark surfaces, you'd be doing your bit for global warming.-- zen_tom, May 10 2007 //As long as you were sick on relatively dark surfaces//
Depends how much red wine or guinness you've had.-- theleopard, Jun 19 2007 random, halfbakery