Bill Gates: Rich nations should shift entirely to synthetic beef

Photo credit: John Keatley. Article by James Temple. MIT Technology Review – February 14, 2021.

We spoke to the Microsoft cofounder about his new book, the limits of his optimism, the tech breakthroughs and energy policies we need—and how his thinking on climate change has evolved.

In his new book, “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster,” Bill Gates lays out what it will really take to eliminate the greenhouse-gas emissions driving climate change.

The Microsoft cofounder, who is now cochair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and chair of the investment fund Breakthrough Energy Ventures, sticks to his past argument that we’ll need numerous energy breakthroughs to have any hope of cleaning up all parts of the economy and the poorest parts of the world. The bulk of the book surveys the technologies needed to slash emissions in “hard to solve” sectors like steel, cement, and agriculture.

He stresses that innovation will make it cheaper and more politically feasible for every nation to cut or prevent emissions. But Gates also answers some of the criticisms that his climate prescriptions have been overly focused on “energy miracles” at the expense of aggressive government policies. […]

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