Pub.1 2019-2020 Issue 3

I f you haven’t seen the YouTube excerpt from Bill Gates’ interview with Arun Majumdar on Feb. 18, 2019, it is well worth the time. To find it online, search for “Bill Gates – stop jerking around with wind and batteries.” The interview was part of the 2018 Global Energy Forum at Stanford Univer- sity. During the excerpt, Gates talks about the overly optimistic thinking of many of those concerned about greenhouse emissions. Gates is not known for promoting the oil and gas industry. He regularly discusses the importance of “clean energy” and the innovation required to achieve it. In his May 14, 2019, GatesNotes blog, he wrote, “you back up renew- able sources with fossil fuels like natural gas that can quickly and reliably provide power when it’s needed. To reach zero carbon emissions, however, we need to find a way to use more clean energy sources as a backstop. He said, “While I wish there could be a single, magic bullet solution to this problem, there isn’t one right now. What will be required in the years ahead is a diverse and flexible mix of energy solutions — a Swiss army knife of energy tools — to support a future of renewable energy generation to meet our needs. Some of these solutions already exist. Others will require more innovation. “Electricity is just 25 percent of greenhouse gas emissions,” said Gates. “There is no substitute for how the industrial economy runs today.” When financial analysts proposed rating companies on their CO2 output to drive down emissions, Gates was surprised they felt the solution was that easy. He poses the question in the video, “Do you guys on Wall Street have some- thing in your desks that makes steel? Where is fertilizer, cement, plastic going to come from? Do planes fly through the sky because of some number you put in a spreadsheet? The idea that we have the current tools and it’s just because these utility people are evil people and if we could just beat on them and put (solar panels) on our rooftop — that is more of a block than climate denial.” He then said, “The ‘climate is easy to solve’ group is our biggest problem.” Bill Gates’ “Grand Challenges” breaks greenhouse gas emissions down into five categories that account for 90% of emissions: • Electricity (25%) • Agriculture (24%) • Manufacturing (21%) • Transportation (14%) • Buildings (6%) The last 10% is a miscellaneous category. In his “GatesNotes” blog from just a month before the 2018 Global Energy Forum, Gates talks about this issue in a post called Climate Change and the 75% Problem. “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, 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.” When it comes to manufacturing, another large piece of the puzzle, Gates says, “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.” Gates concludes by saying, “I think these grand challenges are a helpful way to think about climate change. They show how energy isn’t just what runs your house and your car. It’s core to nearly every part of your life: the food you eat, the clothes you wear, the home you live in, the products you use. To stop the planet from getting substantially warmer, we need breakthroughs in how we make things, grow food, and move people and goods — not just how we power our homes and cars.” Bill Gates Said What?! The best two minutes you can spend on social media Gates is not known for promoting the oil and gas industry. He regularly discusses the importance of “clean energy” and the innovation required to achieve it. This is a video with Bill Gates: https://youtu.be/VjgDvG13Hgs 12 UP DATE