A Window Into California’s Future

EARLY this year, Internet forums and blogs buzzed frantically with rumors that California was planning to ban black paint on new cars and trucks as part of an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

A California Air Resources Board spokesman, Stanley Young, called the rumors laughable. He said that the state was indeed considering ways to keep vehicle interiors cooler and reduce air-conditioning use. Those ideas included windows that would block or absorb infrared rays, the heat-producing component of sunlight, and paint that would reflect the sun’s heat, a technology already used on some homes.

Black paint was never at risk.

On June 25, the board adopted regulations for windows that cuts infrared intrusion on new vehicles sold in the state. The rules will take effect in two stages.

The first stage will take place over the course of three years, beginning in 2012, with a requirement that windshields block at least 50 percent of the sun’s rays. By 2016, all windows must prevent 60 percent of the sun’s energy from entering vehicles.

“We may come up with an overall performance standard that would allow manufacturers to choose other options to cool a car’s interior after it’s stood in the sun,” Mr. Young said. This might include a ventilation system that would draw cool air into the car, he explained, like the optional solar-powered ventilation system on the Toyota Prius.

Read more . . .

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Tags: black paint, california air resources, greenhouse gas emissions, infrared rays, Innovation, toyota prius, ventilation system, windshields

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 at 3:20 pm and is filed under Innovation, NY Times, environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.