Bill Gates is recommended to investors
Editor’s note: This article from the “economic climate and the future of mankind”, Author: Bill Gates (Bill Gates), Translation: Chen Zhao strong.
In the newly released 2021 Global Rich List, Microsoft’s founder Bill Gates ranked fourth richest in the world after Bezos and Musk. Since he became the richest man in the world in early 1995, he has occupied this position for 17 years, and he has created a glorious era.
The philanthropist and the prophet
Since resigning from Microsoft in 2000, Bill Gates has changed from the richest man to a philanthropist who cares about the poor. He has gradually faded out of public view and has led the life of a retired veteran. His full-time job is to run the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (referred to as the “Gates Foundation”) with his wife Melinda. The total amount of cash, stocks, and assets donated by the Gates Foundation amounted to more than 63 billion U.S. dollars. In the past 20 years, the foundation has also donated US$10 billion to three teams to invest in global health organizations to increase people’s access to vaccines.
Five years ago, Bill Gates warned the world in his speech that it is not war or missiles that will kill tens of millions of people in the future, but it may be a highly contagious virus that will appear ” Asymptomatic infection + super transmission”.
At the time, people did not take this warning to heart. Until 2020, the spread of the new crown virus caused the world to pay a painful price. According to incomplete statistics, about 2.7 million people died in the world. New crown virus.
Gates and his wife Melinda listed the response to the new crown pneumonia epidemic as a priority of the Gates Foundation. By November 2020, the Gates Foundation’s pledged donations for the epidemic have exceeded US$445 million.
Will Gates’ predictions be fulfilled this time?
Check out Gates’ latest prediction:
In the new book “Climate Economy and the Future of Mankind” published in 2021, Gates pointed out, “If we do not take action, by the middle of the 21st century, climate change may become the same as the new crown pneumonia.fatal. By 2100, it may be five times more deadly than the epidemic. “
In the next 10 or 20 years, the economic damage caused by climate change is equivalent to an epidemic of the same scale as the new crown pneumonia every 10 years!
Compared with the raging epidemic, the greater crisis of human society is at hand.
Gates invests in “zero carbon” areas
1. Invest in clean energy
As early as 2008, Gates co-founded Terra Energy with his partners, committed to applying traveling wave reactor technology to nuclear power plants-even if the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011 failed to strike Gates for nuclear energy Confidence in future use of prospects.
He said: “If I were to make a wish for the next 50 years, I would definitely choose energy. We have to invent a technology that halves energy prices and achieves zero emissions. What is this technology? It is nuclear energy.”
In addition, Gates invested hundreds of millions of dollars to establish a company dedicated to designing next-generation nuclear power plants, striving to develop clean power while minimizing the generation of nuclear waste. He believes that existing renewable energy sources (mainly wind and solar energy) can play a major role in solving climate change issues, but renewable energy alone cannot achieve the goal of zero emissions.
According to incomplete statistics, Gates has invested in nearly 50 clean technology companies, including three technical fields that he personally prefers: energy storage, nuclear cycle technology, and high-altitude wind energy. These three technologies are the current world energy. The frontier of the field.
2. Invest in artificial meat products
At present, there are two main ways to cultivate “artificial meat”: one is to extract protein from beans, wheat, potatoes and other vegetables to simulate the taste of meat and process it into “vegetarian meat” that has a taste similar to meat fiber; The muscle tissue on a piece of real meat is separated into cells, and serum is added to the container for cultivation.
“Artificial meat” is not a market gimmick, but a major proposition related to the future of mankind in the world. Plant-based alternatives are more conducive to environmental protection, because their production takes up less land, uses less water, and emits fewer greenhouse gases.
Gates has invested in two companies that produce artificial meat products-Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods.
Impossible Foods can produce more than 900,000 catties of artificial meat every month, which is provided to 1,000 restaurants in the United States. It is worth mentioning that Victoria Harbour, owned by Hong Kong’s richest man Li Ka-shing, also invested in this company.
Beyond Meat has become the first listed company in the field of artificial meat. Its flagship product, artificial meat burger, has gradually been recognized by consumers.
Beyond Meat’s individual investors also include movie star Leonardo DiCaprio and McDonald’s former CEO Don Thompson.
According to estimates by research institutions, the future market size of “artificial meat” is expected to reach US$6.4 billion (approximately 45 billion yuan).
3. Invest in nuclear power
There is no clean energy source close to nuclear power—about 20% of the electricity in the United States is provided by nuclear power plants. In France, nuclear power accounts for up to 70%, which is also the highest among countries in the world.
In contrast, solar and wind power together provide about 7% of the world’s electricity.
In 2018, MIT researchers analyzed nearly 1,000 scenarios for achieving zero emissions in the United States and came to a conclusion: all low-cost paths involve readily available clean energy, such as nuclear power. If there is no energy source like nuclear power, the cost of achieving “zero-carbon” electricity will remain high.
Nuclear power plants are also second to none when it comes to the effective use of materials. In contrast, nuclear power plants are very efficient and use much less materials per unit of power generation than other energy sources (except natural gas).
This means that every pound of material invested in the construction and operation of nuclear power plants can get more energy. This is an important consideration because the process of producing these materials also emits greenhouse gases. There are also some facts that have not been taken into consideration: Compared with nuclear power plants, solar power plants and wind power plants usually require more land; nuclear power plants can generate electricity 90% of the time, while solar power plants and wind power plants can only generate electricity at 25%~ Generate electricity 40% of the time. Various factors fully reflect the future advantages of nuclear power development.
TerraPower, which Gates invested in, said that by 2050, there will be hundreds of small advanced nuclear power plants around the world to meet different energy needs.
Not only does Gates pay attention to nuclear power, China has also reported favorable nuclear power policies. The executive meeting of the State Council approved Hainan Changjiang Nuclear Power Phase II and Zhejiang Sanao Nuclear Power Phase I. The total investment in the two projects exceeded 70 billion yuan.
4. Invest in offshore wind power industry
Offshore wind power currently accounts for onlyA very small share-in 2019 this ratio is about 0.4%. Offshore wind power is mostly distributed in Europe, and the North Sea region is the most concentrated.
According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance statistics, the top five suppliers of offshore wind turbine systems in the world are Siemens Gamesa (Spain), MHIVestas (Denmark/Japan), Shanghai Electric (China), Envision Energy (China) and Goldwind Technology (China).
Over the past 3 years, the average annual growth rate of offshore wind power has reached 25%. The United Kingdom is the country with the largest installed offshore wind power capacity in the world today, thanks to its government’s wise subsidy policy. Encouraged by this, companies have increased investment in this field. China is also investing in offshore wind power on a large scale. By 2030, China is likely to become the world’s largest consumer of offshore wind power.
Bill Gates clearly pointed out in the book that “zero carbon” is a huge economic opportunity: those countries that have established great “zero carbon” enterprises and great “zero carbon” industries will undoubtedly be in the next few years. Leading the global economy in ten years.
Bill Gates’ advice to investors
1. The city needs to change the way of development.
More than half of the world’s population lives in cities, and cities contribute more than three-quarters to the world economy. Many fast-growing cities will eventually expand construction sites to alluvial plains, woodlands, and wetlands, which were originally used to regulate water resources: drainage during floods, and storage during droughts. City planners need to have the latest climate risk data and climate change impact data predicted based on computer models.
After grasping the latest information, they can make better decisions in related areas, such as how to plan residential areas and industrial centers, how to build or expand breakwaters, and how to protect the city from increasingly fierce storms. , How to strengthen the rainwater drainage system, and how to build a high-water wharf platform to protect it from rising tides, etc.
This is not just a matter of refurbishing and rebuilding the existing infrastructure in cities. Climate change will also force us to fully consider the new needs of cities.
2. Strengthen the natural defense system.
Forests have the function of storing water and regulating water; wetlands can prevent floods and provide water resources for farmers and cities; coral reefs are habitats for fish on which coastal communities depend. But these and other natural defense systems against climate change are rapidly disappearing. In 2018 alone, nearly 9 million acres of virgin forests were destroyed, and if the global warming reaches 2 degrees Celsius-this is very likely, then the earth Most of the coral reefs will degrade and disappearLost.
From another perspective, restoring the ecosystem will bring us huge rewards. By restoring the ecological environment such as forests and water areas, the water sector of the world’s largest cities can save a total of US$890 million per year. China has designated about a quarter of its land as a key natural asset, and will prioritize conservation and ecosystem protection in these areas.
3. The global demand for drinking water will exceed the supply.
As lakes and underground aquifers continue to shrink or become polluted, it will become increasingly difficult for everyone to obtain the drinking water they need. Most megacities in the world are facing water shortages. If it does not change, then by the middle of the 21st century, the number of people who cannot get enough drinking water at least once a month will increase by more than one-third to more than 5 billion.
We need to take more practical actions: reduce water demand through incentive policies, and at the same time increase efforts to improve water supply capacity. This includes everything from waste water recycling to on-demand irrigation.
4. We need to introduce new funds to fund climate change adaptation projects.
The public sector must play a role in financing climate change adaptation projects and attracting private sector investment. This first requires public and private financial markets to take climate change risks into consideration and price these risks accordingly.
Some governments and companies are already assessing the climate risk of the project. In fact, all governments and companies should do the same. The government can also invest more resources in the field of adaptation and set targets for the amount of future investment. At the same time, it can formulate policies to eliminate some of the risks faced by private investors. As the returns on climate change adaptation projects become clearer, private investment should increase.
Low-carbon investment, there will be nearly 4 times the return on investment
In terms of adapting to climate change, it is impossible for humans to put a price tag on everything the world needs to do. The Global Adaptation Committee, where Gates is located, lists the expenditures in 5 key areas (the establishment of early Early warning systems, building climate-adaptable infrastructure, increasing crop yields, managing water resources, and protecting mangroves), and found that an investment of US$1.8 trillion in 2020-2030 will generate more than US$7 trillion in revenue. In other words, in 10 years, investing 0.2% of global GDP will generate nearly 4 times the return on investment.
No matter which method of measurement you use, the economic returns are obvious, and the same is true from an ethical point of view. Over the past 25 years, the number of people living in extreme poverty has decreased dramatically-in 1990, 36% of the world’s population dropped to 10% in 2015, no doubtThe new crown pneumonia epidemic has severely hindered this development process. But in comparison, climate change is even worse, and it may increase the number of extremely poor people in the world by 13%.
At the same time, our R&D investments, our early investors, and the best inventors of our time should focus on areas where the green premium is too high. The additional green costs in these areas will hinder our “decarbonization” action, and therefore require new technologies, new companies and new products to reduce the green premium.
Why is it “0”
Unless we no longer emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the global temperature will continue to rise. Here is a particularly useful analogy: the climate is like a bathtub being slowly filled with water. Even if we adjust the water to a trickle, the bathtub will be filled sooner or later, and when the bathtub is full, the water will naturally flow. To the ground. This is the disaster we must prevent. It is not enough to set a goal to reduce rather than eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. The only reasonable goal is “0”.
As Bill Gates has repeatedly emphasized in his book, achieving zero emissions is not easy, but if we follow his plan, this goal will be achieved. Whether you are a policy makers, entrepreneurs, or ordinary people busy with their livelihoods, you can contribute to help the world avoid climate disasters together.
Climate Economy and the Future of Mankind
A new book published after 25 years, Bill Gates’ solution to the world
[美]Bill Gates (Bill Gates) by Chen Zhaoqiang Translated
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need
Chinese version pricing: 68 yuan ISBN: 978-7-5217-2833-0 Publication date: April 2020 Month
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