Posts Tagged by Bill Gates
Bill Gates on Renewable Energy
| July 8, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Biomass |
2GreenEnergy Business Director George Alger sent me this interview in which Bill Gates speaks on renewable energy.
George: Yes, he makes some good points, and he’s a fan (as am I) of Donald Sadoway’s work at MIT.
But as you can see from the comments, not everyone agrees with a lot of what he says. I, for one, completely disagree with a great deal of this. 
His position that biomass holds huge promise while solar is “cute” and “for rich people” is pretty far out there on the fringe.
It’s as if he said that Dorothy Hamill was his favorite ice hockey team. But when you have a guy of that stature, he can say that 2 and 2 are 5, and it will garner huge amounts of attention.
Think We're On The Right Track Toward Sustainability? Ask Vaclav Smil
| January 22, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Uncategorized |
A few people around here routinely tell me to knock off my “the sky is falling” assessment of the state of the planet. Whether these folks are oil company shills or simply just silly optimists is something I’ll probably never know. But here’s a certainty: in comparison to some, I’m a regular Pollyanna.
A reader commented the other day that he was lucky enough to take a course at the University of Manitoba taught by the highly decorated Vaclav Smil.
“We are structurally cooked,” says Smil. “(Saving our civilization) is doable, but doable only by catastrophe and crisis,” he said in October. Want an eye-opener? Here’s a link to some of Smil’s viewpoints.
The Vector: Gates Feeds-in on Tariffs
| October 14, 2010 | Posted by Aedan-Kernan under Renewables - Business |
Bill Gates gave the concept of Feed-in tariffs a bit of a battering during his recent publicity drive to promote energy R&D funding.
Feed-in tariffs have given renewable energy companies a major boost in countries such as Germany and Spain. But Gates believes the money could have been better spent: “The world has spent a massive amount of money which, in terms of creating both jobs and knowledge, would have been far better spent on energy research,” he claims.
Gates firmly believes that R&D is the only viable solution and R&D will not be properly funded without government action. He sees a need for what he calls ‘miracles’ to reduce our CO2 emissions. Reductions of 20 per cent in CO2 output won’t cut it.
“There is absolutely no hope if you just say the world should use less energy. The only hope is less CO2 per unit of energy.” There is no existing technology that at anywhere near economic levels gives us electricity with zero CO2.”
[The Vector] From the Private Sector: American Business Leaders, including Bill Gates, Call for Immediate Renewable Energy Push
| July 30, 2010 | Posted by Kathy-Heshelow under Renewables - Business |
Bill Gates and GE Chair Jeff Immelt at AEIC press conference, courtesy AEIC
A group of top business leaders are working together and formed The American Energy Innovation Council (AEIC) in a call for action on renewable energy. They are emphasizing the need to correct the “deficient” American energy system. The Council states that we: need a call for investment, need reforms to create jobs, need to address environmental issues and need to address national security. They have been meeting with the White House and Congressional leaders. Their report is entitled “A Business Plan for America’s Energy Future” and states that reform and strengthening of U.S. investment in innovation is a most critical element to securing our future. Read More
