Bill Gates grows most animated when the talk turns to the 'cool' new energy technologies that have yet to leave the lab.
Gates was a rare civilian sharing the limelight alongside presidents and prime ministers at the opening session of Paris climate talks on Monday.
Offstage, in a barren conference room, he excitedly described the possibility of generating energy through the long-speculated process of artificial photosynthesis, using the energy of sunshine to produce liquid hydrocarbons that could challenge the supremacy of fossil fuels.
U.S. President Barack Obama (L) and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates leave a meeting to launch the 'Mission Innovation: Accelerating the Clean Energy Revolution' at the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) in Le Bourget, near Paris.
HOW THE CLUB WORKS
The Breakthrough Energy Coalition is an informal club of 28 private investors from around the world, including several hedge fund billionaires who have agreed to follow his lead and pump seed money into energy research and development.
Gates believes the energy sector suffers from a dearth of such funding, the reason much of the world is still burning coal for its power.
A readiness to put another billion dollars of his own money into what is already a roughly billion-dollar portfolio of energy investments was also enough for Gates to convince 20 governments to commit to doubling their own R&D investments within five years.
'If it works it would be magical,' says Gates, hugging his elbows to his side and rocking lightly in his seat.
'Because with liquids you don't have the intermittency problem batteries.
'You can put the liquid into a big tank and burn it whenever you want.
'There are dozens of things like that that are high risk but huge impact if they are successful.'
Gates was in Paris to push his latest bit of entrepreneurial philanthropy: the Breakthrough Energy Coalition, an informal club of 28 private investors from around the world, including several hedge fund billionaires who have agreed to follow his lead and pump seed money into energy research and development.
Gates believes the energy sector suffers from a dearth of such funding, the reason much of the world is still burning coal for its power.
A readiness to put another billion dollars of his own money into what is already a roughly billion-dollar portfolio of energy investments was also enough for Gates to convince 20 governments to commit to doubling their own R&D investments within five years.
'If we are to avoid the levels of warming that are dangerous we need to move at full speed,' the co-founder of Microsoft told a trio of journalists including from Reuters.
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Gates says the energy sector's complacency about developing new technologies makes it ripe for disruption. 'We need to surprise them that these alternative ways of doing energy can come along and come along in an economic way,' he says.
Gates has become a devotee of Vaclav Smil, a little-known Czech-Canadian professor of the environment at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg whom he calls 'the best energy author there is'.
Smil has written extensively about the long periods of time required for new energy technologies to take off. Oil, gas, nuclear: for all, the period from invention to widespread deployment was half a century.
It's a warning to those who think new technologies will be a quick fix for the warming planet, though Gates thinks new energy sources can be moved to market faster these days.
Mark Zuckerberg is among the other big names who have joined the club
'I'm more of an optimist than Vaclav,' he says, noting that 'the world, scientifically, is far more sophisticated than at anytime in the past - our understanding of material science, our ability to simulate things, just the number of scientists and engineers in the world alone.'
Gates figures it will take a decade to develop two or three breakthrough technologies, then another 20 years before the technologies can become a core of the energy system.
Solving the clean energy problem is an essential part of building a better world
Thirty years. But don't venture capitalists like to be around to see and enjoy the returns on their investments?
'Well I hope to be alive then,' he said with a slight grimace. 'I just went to my Dad's 90th birthday. And it will be my 90th birthday in 2045.'
Mark Zuckerberg revealed the deal on his Facebook page.
'Priscilla and I are joining Bill Gates in launching the Breakthrough Energy Coalition to invest in new clean energy technologies.
'Solving the clean energy problem is an essential part of building a better world.
'We won't be able to make meaningful progress on other challenges - like educating or connecting the world - without secure energy and a stable climate.
The Breakthrough Energy Coalition is an informal club of 28 private investors from around the world
'Yet progress towards a sustainable energy system is too slow, and the current system doesn't encourage the kind of innovation that will get us there faster.
'We already invest in renewable and clean energy for our Facebook facilities today, but we believe that building a positive future for the next generation also means investing in long term projects that companies and governments don’t fund.
'This is an important focus for us, and we'll share more about it in the coming days.'
WHO IS IN THE CLUB?
The initial members of the club are:
Mukesh Ambani
Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Limited
India
John Arnold
Co-chair, Laura and John Arnold Foundation
United States
Founder, Chairman and CEO, Salesforce.com
United States
Jeff Bezos
Founder and CEO, Amazon
United States
HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal
Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Alwaleed Philanthropies
Saudi Arabia
Richard Branson
Founder, Virgin Group
United Kingdom
Ray Dalio
Founder, Bridgewater Associates
United States
Aliko Dangote
Founder and Chief Executive, Dangote Group
Nigeria
John Doerr
General Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
United States
Bill Gates
Co-chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
United States
Reid Hoffman
Founder, LinkedIn and Partner, Greylock
United States
Chris Hohn
Founder, The Children’s Investment Fund
United Kingdom
Vinod Khosla
Founder, Khosla Ventures
United States
Jack Ma
Executive Chairman, Alibaba Group
China
Xavier Niel
Founder, Iliad Group
France
Nat Simons and Laura Baxter-Simons
Co-founders, Prelude Ventures
United States
Masayoshi Son
Founder, Chairman and CEO, SoftBank Group Corp.
Japan
George Soros
Chairman, Soros Fund Management LLC
United States
Tom Steyer
Businessman, Philanthropist, and President, NextGen Climate
United States
Ratan Tata
Chairman Emeritus, Tata Sons
India
Meg Whitman
CEO, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
United States
Ms. Zhang Xin and Mr. Pan Shiyi
Co-founder and CEO, SOHO China
Chairman, SOHO China
China
Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Priscilla Chan
Founder, Chairman and CEO, Facebook
Pediatrician and CEO, The Primary School
United States
University of California
Office of the Chief Investment Officer
United States
Hasso Plattner
Co-founder and Chairman, SAP
Germany
Julian Robertson
Founder and Chairman, Tiger Management
United States
Neil Shen
Founding Managing Partner, Sequoia Capital China
China
Patrice Motsepe
Founder and Executive Chairman, African Rainbow Minerals (ARM)
South Africa