Bill Gates on Climate Change Mitigation

I just signed up to receive Bill Gates’ newsletter on fighting climate change.  It’s always good to know what the planet’s most powerful people are thinking and doing, and we’re all certainly better off when the multi-billionaires out there are as committed to philanthropy as Gates is.

Here’s his overall analysis in italics, and my comments below.

• Electricity (25%). Although there’s been progress in the renewable energy market, we still need more breakthroughs. For example, wind and solar need zero-carbon backup sources for windless days, long periods of cloudy weather, and nighttime. We also need to make the electric grid a lot more efficient so clean energy can be delivered where it’s needed, when it’s needed.
• Agriculture (24%). Cattle are a huge source of methane; in fact, if they were a country, they would be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases! In addition, deforestation—clearing land for crops, for instance—removes trees that pull CO2 out of the air, and when the trees are burned, they release all their carbon back into the atmosphere.

• Manufacturing (21%). Look at the plastic, steel, and cement around you. All of it contributed to climate change. Making cement and steel requires lots of energy from fossil fuels, and it involves chemical reactions that release carbon as a byproduct. So even if we could make all the stuff we need with zero-carbon energy, we’d still need to deal with the byproducts.
• Transportation (14%). Low-emission cars are great, but cars account for a little less than half of transportation-related emissions today—and that share will shrink in the future. More emissions come from airplanes, cargo ships, and trucks. Right now we don’t have practical zero-carbon options for any of these.
• Buildings (6%). Do you live or work in a place with air conditioning? The refrigerant inside your AC unit is a greenhouse gas. In addition, it takes a lot of energy to run air conditioners, heaters, lights, and other appliances. Things like more-efficient windows and insulation would help. This area will be more important over the next few decades as the global population moves to cities. The world’s building stock will double in area by 2060. That’s like adding another New York City every month for 40 years.

What he says about renewable energy is indubitable; more breakthroughs are indeed necessary, though good things are happening in our efforts to deal with the variability of wind and solar, and it’s strange that he doesn’t mention nuclear.

In my view, manufacturing, transportation and buildings are not stand-alone subjects; almost all of their environmental impact comes from the energy they consume.  Thus, clean energy means reducing the footprint of each of these sectors to near zero.

There’s nothing we can do about cattle except eating less of it.  Fortunately, plant-based meat and lab-grown beef will have a huge impact on this.

I’ll look forward to informing readers of Mr. Gates’ ideas as I receive them.  Of course, I urge folks to sign up for his newsletter as well.