European Energy Crisis Is ‘Good’ – Bill Gates

The European energy crisis might be good, claims Bill Gates. According to the billionaire, countries would turn to renewable energy as a result of gas shortages and exorbitant prices.

According to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Europe’s gas supply and affordability crisis is really “good for the long run.” He claimed that it would eventually push the continent to adopt renewable energy, reports the Daily Wire, adding that “people won’t want to be dependent on Russian natural gas.”

Gates acknowledged that the public “did get a little optimistic about how quickly the transition [to renewables] could be done,” admitting the need to find “non-Russian hydrocarbon sources.”

On the same day, the founder of climate-focused venture capital fund Breakthrough Energy Ventures released an essay titled ‘State of the Energy Transition’ on his blog. In terms of global greenhouse gas emissions, Gates stated that the ultimate objective of going “from 51 billion tons a year to zero” should be accomplished “in the next three decades.”

The billionaire emphasized that it would not be appropriate to “drain all the money away from [fossil fuel] sectors,” since “that’s how people get to work today, it’s how people avoid freezing to death in the winter.” Nevertheless, he stated that markets cannot be trusted to go toward renewables on their own; a “plan” is required “to speed the process up.”

In describing his strategy, he stated that new technologies for producing clean energy should be produced and scaled up in a “fair” way that does not leave developing countries behind. It will be vital to assist people in adapting to the new circumstances by backing sectors such as “crop science,” in which Gates and his Breakthrough Energy Ventures have invested.

The EU recently decided to reduce gas demand by 15% this winter “in order to prepare for possible disruptions of gas supplies from Russia.”

Conversely, earlier in the month, Germany’s natural gas regulator disclosed that the nation consumed 14.5% more gas in September than the five-year average, suggesting that a shortage would be inevitable unless people reduced their consumption.