Negative Nelly: Bill Gates Is ADAMANT About America’s Climate Change Target

However, he is much more positive about AI helping countries use less energy.   

Embracing AI 

According to Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder and one of the world’s top individual investors in climate tech, AI should be seen as a help instead of a hindrance in hitting climate targets. 

Gates broke ground this month on the US’ first next-generation nuclear power plant in Wyoming. Since then, he has pledged to invest “billions more” in similar plants, as he sees it as the best way to provide the forthcoming boom in power demand for electronic vehicles and data centers.  

A Power Plant Problem? 

However, Gates’ new power plant – and the others that are still to come – needs to overcome one prerequisite: it must produce cost-competitive electricity before it can be extensively adopted which, according to Gates, it will. 

Too Much Fossil Fuel? 

Despite Gates’ AI claims, there are still increasing concerns that implementing additional data centers could require more fossil fuels and, thus, dry up green energy supplies.

Less Energy Usage? 

Regarding these concerns, Gates told journalists that AI would assist countries in using less energy, although more data centers would be required. This will be achieved by making electricity grids and technology more efficient.  

Feeling Very Positive 

“Let’s not go overboard on this,” Gates has stated. “Datacentres are, in the most extreme case, a 6% addition [in energy demand] but probably only 2% to 2.5%. The question is, will AI accelerate a more than 6% reduction? And the answer is: certainly”. 

AI or Regular Google? 

As per Goldman Sachs estimates, a query fed to the AI chatbot ChatGPT requires approximately 10 times more electricity than it would for a normal Google search. Accordingly, carbon emissions from data centers could more than double between 2022 and 2030. 

Green is Good 

At a London conference hosted by his venture fund Breakthrough Energy, Gates said the additional demand created by AI data centers was very likely to be matched by new investments in green electricity as tech companies are “seriously willing” to pay extra for clean energy sources “to say that they’re using green energy”.   

Tech Brands Paying 

He added: “The tech companies are the [ones] willing to pay a premium, and to help bootstrap green energy capacity”. 

Pumping Billions Into Climate Change 

Since launching Breakthrough Energy at the Paris Climate Summit of 2015, Gates’ climate tech investment vehicle has invested $2.2 billion to construct one of the most impressive stables of climate tech companies. 

Examples include green steel producer Boston Metal, battery recycler Redwood Materials, and the carbon removal startup Heirloom. 

Big-Time Funding 

Breakthrough Energy has managed to secure some fantastic funds, including $1 billion last year for Redwood, constructing its first commercial-scale facilities, plus acquiring early sales contracts. 

This was mostly due to Breakthrough’s patience, its readiness to pump major figures into risky first-of-a-kind projects, plus its long-term willingness to support businesses from inception to maturity. 

Billions in Reserve 

Currently, Breakthrough Energy has approximately $2.3 billion more for forthcoming investments. 

“When we started, green investing was really weak and kind of out of fashion. The venture model really didn’t fit, given the capital intensity and timeframes involved,” Gates claimed. “But since then it has gone better than I could have expected”. 

Assisting AI 

The Gates Foundation Trust is also a big investor in AI, pumping about one-third of its $77bn riches into Microsoft. 

Sequentially, Microsoft is the biggest external investor in ChatGPT creator OpenAI and has included a selection of AI tools as part of its Windows operating system under the Copilot brand. 

Too Little Time 

But despite advances in AI and green electricity technology, Gates has warned that the world’s 2050 climate targets were out by up to 15 years. This is due to the amount of green electricity required to replace fossil fuels not being acquired quickly enough.   

Missing the Deadline 

According to Gates, a delay in the crossover into green energy could deter the decarbonization of polluting sectors, which includes heavy industry. This could make meeting the 2050 deadline of reaching net zero emissions more difficult.

A Concerned Gates 

He stated: “I worry, in general, that the amount of green electricity that we need for the transition is not going to show up nearly as fast as we need”.  

An Impossible Target? 

Furthermore, Gates added: “If you try to map out and say: ‘Let’s get to zero by 2050,’ you’re like: ‘Another 10 or 15 years might be more realistic.’ It’s very hard to see. We’re not going to get to zero by 2050, I don’t think”. 

Record Highs? 

Gates issued his warning only a week after a global report stated that, although 2023 saw a record rise in renewable energy, fossil fuel consumption was also boosted to a new record high thanks to a gradually increasing demand. 

Using More? 

Getting specific with figures, the global energy report stated that emissions were pushed to over 40 gigatons of CO2 for the first time last year, reaching a record high. 

Fossil Fuel Still a Thing 

According to Juliet Davenport, the president of the Energy Institute, the report highlighted “another year of highs in our energy-hungry world”, which includes a record high consumption of fossil fuels, which climbed by 1.5% to 505 exajoules. 

A Risk for Investors 

When asked about his predictions for advanced nuclear, Gates said: “…we have a lot of work to do over the next six years to get fully certified and prove that our cost of electricity is super low. We’re not asking ratepayers to take that risk, which in the past was not a good experience for them. The risk is entirely held by private investors and the federal government”. 

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