Bill Gates commits $1.5bn for clean technologies including hydrogen

Bill Gates wants to spend $1.5bn on clean technologies, including hydrogen, through a new partnership with the US Department of Energy (US DOE).

“Clean hydrogen is a great example of a very promising technology with a high green premium,” the Microsoft and Breakthrough Energy founder said today (August 31) when he spoke on the US Department of Energy’s (US DOE’s) Hydrogen Shot Summit.

Expressing a passion for hydrogen and clean fuels, Gates explained that whilst the clean fuel is very promising the price must be right, not just for the US, but for the whole world.

“Breakthrough Energy announced a partnership with the US DOE a few weeks ago to accelerate the understanding of these technologies [clean technologies] and bring those high costs down.

“Together, we will participate in projects in four different areas: hydrogen, sustainable aviation fuel, direct air capture and long duration energy storage.

“Through blended finance, we’ll find a way to decrease the costs of these products and aim to mobilise $0.5bn here in the US on these projects in the next three years.

“A significant amount of resources for this work would come from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act, if it becomes law.”

 

Undoubtably keen to fast-forward a clean future Gates welcomed that the Biden administration has already recognised that a huge barrier to going green is costs.

“The Biden administration clearly recognises that a huge barrier to reducing emissions is that the clean approaches we have today cost so much more than doing it the old way,” he said.

“We need to reduce these price gaps. We need to scale up, get on the learning curve and make it affordable.”

“No country or company will adopt clean fuels or buy green concrete and steel if they are significantly more expensive than the products they replace. And without customers, we don’t get the volume.”

“So, this driving down the green premium through innovations and policy, technologies and markets is central to meeting a goal of zero emissions by 2050.”

 

Bill Gates commits $1.5bn for clean technologies including hydrogen (h2-view.com)

Bill Gates commits $1.5bn for clean technologies including hydrogen