<
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2024-01-24/why-australia-builds-dark-roads-despite-heatwaves-climate-change/103375122>
'Sebastian Pfautsch doesn't hesitate when asked what he would change first to
cool Australian cities in summer.
And it's not what you might expect. It's not the seemingly endless expanse of
black roofs, soaking up the sun beneath a shimmering haze.
It's the roads. About a third of any outer suburb is thermally dense black
asphalt that can reach 75 degrees Celsius, according to Professor Pfautsch, an
expert on urban heat at the University of Western Sydney.
"If I had a magic wand, I would make the road surfaces lighter in colour," he
says.
But despite paler or "cool" roads being proposed and trialled in Australia for
the past decade, they haven't been rolled out anywhere at scale.
The reasons for this are complex, ranging from council budgets to the glacial
pace of reforming road construction standards, to questions over the durability
of reflective sealants in Australian conditions.
But the result is clear to see — and feel — for residents. As heatwaves get
worse, putting lives at risk, large centres of the population from Perth to
Sydney continue to encase themselves in dense black bitumen.
So what would it take to install paler, cooler roads?'
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
