Al Jazeera
- News Agencies
Bill Gates says governments and investors need to find ways to reduce
emissions from steel- and cement-making.
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| Manufacturing, especially of the cheap construction staples steel and cement, accounts for about a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. [File: George Frey/Bloomberg] |
US billionaire Bill Gates exudes optimism in discussing the world’s ability
to tackle climate change – until he hits on manufacturing. About that, he is
worried.
There is currently no way to make steel or cement without releasing
climate-warming emissions. Yet neither governments nor investors are looking
hard to solve that problem, Gates told the Reuters news agency.
“That’s the sector that bothers me the most,” Gates said in a video
interview with Reuters ahead of the publication this week of his book: How
to Avoid a Climate Disaster.
The software-developer-turned-philanthropist has invested about $2bn towards
the development of clean technologies. But those investments are mostly in
electricity generation and storage.
Manufacturing – especially of the cheap construction staples steel and
cement – accounts for about a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. That
makes manufacturing more polluting than the power or transportation sectors,
which receive far more attention in policies and investments. And the
manufacturing sector is set to grow, as the global population climbs and
countries further develop.
‘The easy stuff’
“People still need basic shelter, certainly in developing countries,” said
Gates, co-founder of Microsoft Corp. “It’s unlikely we’ll stop building
buildings.”
Gates plans to push for more research and innovation at the UN climate
conference in Glasgow in November. “The idea is to get innovation, including
R&D, onto the agenda … not just looking at the easy stuff.”
During the 2015 United Nations climate talks in Paris, Gates helped to
launch a global initiative called Mission Innovation along with United
States former President Barack Obama, French former President Francois
Hollande and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to link national
governments with the private sector in pursuing and sharing clean
technology.
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| The manufacture of steel and cement for the construction industry release carbon dioxide as a byproduct. [File: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters] |
Right now, for example, “they’re doing a lot of green hydrogen products,”
Gates said. “But who’s doing the hard stuff?”
Some manufacturing plants may be able to lower their emissions by plugging
into an electricity grid run on renewable energy. But that will not solve
all emissions from steel- and cement-making, both processes that release
carbon dioxide as a byproduct.
Yo yo-ing energy policies
In the US it has not helped to have energy policy yo-yo between presidential
administrations, he said. “This stop-start approach, that’s too risky for
the private sector.”
On a personal note, Gates says in his book that, after years of dismissing
activists’ calls to divest from fossil fuels, he sold his direct holdings in
oil and gas companies in 2019. The Gates Foundation’s endowment did the same
– but not because Gates became convinced that divestment would push
companies towards clean energy.
Rather: “I don’t want to profit if their stock prices go up because we don’t
develop zero-carbon alternatives,” he writes. “I’d feel bad if I benefitted
from a delay in getting to zero.”
But Gates does still have interests in some polluting industries.
An investment firm Gates controls, Cascade Investment LLC, recently offered
to increase its stake in Signature Aviation Plc, the world’s biggest
operator of private-jet bases. Private jets typically pump out far more
carbon emissions per passenger on each trip than flying commercial.
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