Monday, December 12, 2016

UC, Caltech Key To Bill Gates' New $1 Billion Cleantech Investment Effort

Both the University of California, and Caltech both appear to be key to the new clean technology investment fund, Breakthrough Energy, which is being led by former Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Breakthrough Energy said this morning that the new, $1 billion clean technology fund will go towards technology which will have a "significant" impact on greenhouse gas. The board members of the new effort include Bill Gates (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), John Arnold (Laura and John Arnold Foundation), John Doerr (Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers), and Vinod Khosla (Khosla Ventures). In a phone call discussing the new fund, Bill Gates said that the fund will specifically be taking a look at research ideas from the University of California; Vinod Khosla said the fund will also look to attract students and researchers from such schools as Caltech, as well as MIT and Stanford, to specifically work on those clean technology efforts. Gates called climate change a "serious threat", especially in the poorest parts of the world. The University of California is an existing partner in Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Coalition.

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