The Mission Innovation clean tech initiative will commit governments and private investors to boost their investments in clean energy technology by 2020.
Advertisement
The money would focus on research and development of technologies such as energy storage, which could make better use of clean power from wind and solar regardless of the vagaries of weather.
The coalition was launched as part of “Mission Innovation”, an initiative of 19 governments, which will be hosted by the US President Barack Obama after inaugurating the 21st Conference of Parties summit (COP21) in Paris.
What has prevented energy-related innovation from being deployed more quickly.
Besides Tata and Ambani, Jack Ma of China’s Alibaba Group, Richard Branson of UK’s Virgin Group, Meg Whitman of Hewlett Packard, Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures of the US, Chris Hohn of The Children’s Investment Fund of the United Kingdom and University of California are among other investors in the Gates-led coalition.
Gates yesterday pointed out another challenge – the most efficient dyes used to make solar paints come from a family of chemicals called perovskites that convert about 20 per cent of solar energy into electricity – a higher rate than all but the most efficient solar panels.
The Breakthrough Energy Coalition is a group of 28 influential investors from 10 countries committed to providing patient, early-stage capital that will take innovative technologies from the world’s great laboratories and build them into energy solutions at scale.
“For energy as a whole, the incentive to invest is quite limited, because unlike digital productswhere you get very rapid adoption and so, within the period that your trade secret stays secret or your patent gives you a 20-year exclusive, you can reap incredible returnsalmost everything that’s been invented in energy was invented more than 20 years before it got scaled usage”, Gates told the magazine. He has lobbied for more federal spending on energy research and has invested some of his own fortune in startup energy companies.
As part of its contribution to Mission Innovation, the U.S. Government will seek to double its current level investment in clean energy R&D over five years.
The multinational program, known as “Mission Innovation”, was announced at the United Nations Climate Summit in Paris. The hope is that nuclear power, with zero carbon emissions, could then play a significant role in the transition to a clean-energy future.
Gates’ breakthrough energy coalition will be backed by a group spanning more than two dozen public and private entities. “We need it to be not only clean, but also reliable”, said the Microsoft founder.
“Ultimately, a global agreement in Paris must accelerate the energy transformation that is already happening thanks to soaring renewable energy markets, commitments by leading businesses, and action by cities, communities and individuals”.
“Priscilla and I are joining Bill Gates in launching the Breakthrough Energy Coalition to invest in new clean energy technologies”, stated the Facebook founder.
“Technology will help solve our energy issues”.
Advertisement
I think [energy innovation] is especially important because, of all the people who will be affected by climate change, those in poor countries will suffer the most.
