The effort to curb environmental pollution can use all the help it can get, and it is getting a sizable donation from both the EU and billionaire Bill Gates. The fund is meant for rolling out low-carbon technologies in Europe. Bill Gates is using his Breakthrough Energy Catalyst to provide the fund. It will be released between 2022 and 2026.
Technologies that are deemed critical to reducing carbon emissions will be supported, with the main focus being on sectors that depend heavily on hydrogen based fuels such as aviation fuel. New technologies such as extraction CO2 from the atmosphere, something Gates has been interested in recently, and long-duration energy storage.
In a statement provided by the EU, Gates is quoted as saying: “Decarbonizing the global economy is the greatest opportunity for innovation the world has ever seen. Europe will play a critical role, having demonstrated an early and consistent commitment to climate and longstanding leadership in science, engineering, and technology.”
Part of the fund will be given out as grants and other financial instruments that will support large-scale or mass market projects.
The EU will provide its own part of the fund from money it has at hand, including the cash from sales of carbon emission permits which have been funding its Horizon Europe program. The organization recognizes that it needs to speed up its transition from fossil fuels to low-carbon energy sources in order to meet its climate control goals. It will do so by focusing on emerging technologies that can theoretically ameliorate greenhouse effects but are too expensive.
The EU says: “The Breakthrough Energy Catalyst Program will mobilize equivalent private capital and philanthropic funds to finance the selected projects. The partnership will also be open to national investments by EU member states through InvestEU or at project level.”