Systems for decreasing local temperature using high albedo materials

Abstract

A system comprises a plurality of albedo-increasing materials distributed on a surface of a man-made structure and having an albedo that is greater than an albedo of the surface of the man-made structure, wherein the albedo of the albedo-increasing materials is at least 0.15. The plurality of albedo-increasing materials are positioned and sized to increase an evaporation rate at the surface for a given temperature and decrease a temperature characterizing the man-made structure.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system comprising: a plurality of albedo-increasing materials distributed on a surface of a man-made structure and having an albedo that is greater than an albedo of the surface of the man-made structure, wherein the albedo of the albedo-increasing materials is at least 0.15, and wherein the plurality of albedo-increasing materials are positioned and sized to increase an evaporation rate at the surface for a given temperature and decrease a temperature characterizing the man-made structure. 
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the man-made structure comprises a portion of a power plant. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the plurality of albedo-increasing materials comprises differently-sized albedo-increasing materials. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the surfaces are hydrophilic. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the materials are characterized by wettable surfaces that provide a large effective surface area relative to the surface area covered by the materials. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the material surfaces include wettable pores. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said materials are hollow. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  additionally comprising a corralling structure configured to contain the plurality of albedo-increasing materials following deployment over the surface. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the albedo-increasing materials are self-removing from any of the following: from carbon uptake, from cracking induced by freezing, from wear, or from an enclosure sinking and dragging down the albedo-increasing materials. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said surface is water. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10  additionally comprising a position-monitoring sensor. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10  additionally comprising a sensor configured to monitor an effect of the materials on the environment after deployment. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1  additionally comprising at least one of communication and powering equipment. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the albedo-increasing materials comprise at least one of the following: glass spheres, cenospheres, ceramic spheres, plastic spheres, glass fibers, ceramic fibers, and plastic fibers. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the albedo-increasing materials comprise a natural material. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the albedo-increasing materials comprise a treated natural material. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the albedo-increasing materials comprise at least one albedo-increasing material coated with or including TiO 2 . 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the man-made surface comprises ground associated with infrastructure. 
     
     
         19 . A system comprising: a floatable albedo-increasing material having an albedo of at least 0.15, the material comprising: a multi-pore structure having a first pore, a second pore that is staggered from the first pore, and an interconnect between the first pore and the second pore, wherein the interconnect is configured to entrap air when a portion of the albedo-increasing material is placed upon water. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19  wherein the first pore and the second pore are tapered such that the first and second pores each have a larger cross-sectional area in a direction from a first surface of the albedo-increasing material to a second surface of the albedo-increasing material. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 17  wherein the first pore and the second pore have a slanted configuration. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 19  wherein the material comprises a plurality of said multi-pore structures. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 19  wherein the walls of the pores are wettable. 
     
     
         24 . A system comprising: a sheet-like structure with one or more openings; and one or more buoyancy features connected to the sheet-like structure configured to keep at least a portion of the sheet-like structure afloat, wherein the sheet-like structure has an albedo greater than 0.15, and wherein if the structure is deployed over a surface of a body of water associated with a man-made structure, the structure will increase an albedo of the surface, increase an evaporation rate at the surface for a given temperature, and decrease a temperature characterizing the man-made structure. 
     
     
         25 . A system comprising: a plurality of plate-like materials having an albedo of at least 0.15, wherein the materials are configured to interconnect with one another to form an interconnecting structure, and wherein if the interconnecting structure is deployed over a surface of a body of water associated with a man-made structure, the structure will increase an albedo of the surface, increase an evaporation rate at the surface for a given temperature, and decrease a temperature characterizing the man-made structure. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 25  wherein each of the plurality of plate-like materials has a polygonal shape.