Watch this: The Future According to Bill Gates: We Talked With the Tech Giant About AI, Misinformation and More
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Two things stand out during an episode on global warming: Gates' mention of technologies currently "sitting on a shelf" and skepticism from some younger-aged climate activists who meet with him. In the episode, Gates says he learns from them, just like the scientists.
Though clean tech efforts are ramping up, there are concerns that things aren't moving fast enough. Public policy and scale are factors when it comes to progress. So what tech is available right now?
Gates told me new innovation is needed for industries like steel and cement manufacturing, and his Breakthrough Energy venture is part of funding those projects. "There are other areas, like food products, that have a low carbon footprint where we just need to drive awareness," Gates said. He explains that as people drive demand up, it'll help propel more innovation while reducing extra costs (the green premium) tied to buying things like electric heat pumps and vehicles or solar panels.
As a developed nation, the US -- and its consumers -- can support efforts to increase demand and innovation. "Rich countries have to drive those markets, and that's how you eventually get to price points that you can go to the middle-income countries where 65% of our planet lives and say to the consumers there that it is affordable to them," Gates said. He says getting wealthier consumers who support the cause to buy these products is the part of the path to worldwide adoption.
Another aspect is policy, an area where Breakthrough Energy has leveraged its influence. The organization served in an advisory role for the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act in the US, a piece of climate legislation that Gates said provides "tax credits for existing and new technologies to accelerate their deployment."
In the docuseries, viewers learn about the venture firm's current investments and what's being done in the realms of nuclear energy, food waste and construction. Is it enough to satisfy the young activists who challenge Gates on climate change? Does he think we'll achieve the goal of reducing carbon emissions by 2050? Maybe -- or maybe not.
"We're not meeting the activists' high expectations, including staying below the 1.5 degrees [Celsius]" target for limiting the increase in global temperatures, Gates said. "We are making enough progress that people should not despair. That is, we need to keep working on this."
You will have to stream the entire series to hear more from Gates and featured experts, public figures and everyday people about each topic and its myriad challenges, including a dive into income inequality and infectious disease. A cause that is important to the Gates Foundation is global health, and the final episode of the series is one that Gates would like viewers to take in.
"I'll be disappointed if the global health issue doesn't get significant viewership," he says, smiling. "Because of my time and resources, right up there with climate, that's the thing I work on the most and keeping that visible -- like malaria deaths, which is a big focus of that, the 500,000 kids a year who are dying of that. I'm trying to be smarter about how we get everybody to care about that so that the rich countries stay engaged in helping out."
Source: cnet.com