His story asks about the politics necessary to solve the climate crisis, and he has certainly done his homework.

If you’ve ever seen the scenarios the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change develops for the future, Robinson’s book will feel familiar. The fund announced a second round of equal size in January. The venture fund’s $1 billion first round has had some early successes, like Impossible Foods, a maker of plant-based burgers. Breakthrough aims to fill some of this gap, funding everything from next-generation nuclear technology to fake meat that tastes more like beef. Gates and his fellow investors argued that both the federal government and the private sector are underinvesting in energy innovation. Throughout, Gates is adept at cutting through the complexity of the climate challenge, giving the reader handy heuristics to distinguish between the bigger technological problems (cement) and the smaller ones (airplanes).Īt the Paris climate negotiations in 2015, Gates and several dozen other wealthy people launched Breakthrough Energy, an interlinked venture capital fund, lobbying group, and research effort. He slices this pollution into sectors by the size of their footprints-working his way from electricity, manufacturing, and agriculture to transportation and buildings. Gates begins with the 51 billion tons of greenhouse gases that people create every year.

In his new book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, Bill Gates takes a technology-centered approach to understanding the climate crisis.

How to avoid a climate disaster