One of the ways to reduce energy consumption in the summer is to paint streets and buildings white. In California the roads are painted white to reduce the problem of extreme heat causing the tar to melt. Purdue University has produced a white paint that can reflect 98.1% of light last year.
The problem with the paint produced is that it needs a thickness of 400 microns which is about 6 times the thickness of a human hair to do an effective light reflection. Therefore, it is only suitable for use in buildings to reduce heating while also preventing the use of air conditioning.
So the same team from Purdue has returned to the lab and as a result the paint now only needs to have a thickness of 150 microns to reflect 97.9% of light. This is done by mixing boron nitride material. This simultaneously reduces the weight of the paint layer by up to 80%.
Paint can now be used on aircraft, and vehicles where added weight can increase fuel consumption. Planes will now not have heat problems in the cabin when in the terminal and the researchers are also seeing their invention used in the aerospace industry.