A recent proclamation by billionaire philanthropist and technology financier Bill Gates’ has caused a bit of stir and put broad smiles on the faces energy investors in Houston, Texas, a city widely regarded as the oil and gas capital of the U.S.
At the recently concluded energy event CERAWeek, organized by S&P Global in Houston, Gates took the center stage on Thursday (March 21, 2024) to opine that the next wave of energy and climate breakthroughs may come from the city.
Gates had declared he was “in Texas to see the future” ahead of his CERAWeek remarks and noted: “I’m in Corpus Christi and Houston to meet with some of the remarkable innovators building America’s clean energy future. The Lone Star State is showing the world how to power a clean tomorrow.”
In town representing his two energy companies – Breakthrough Energy, which is accelerating sustainable energy solutions and pursuing innovations in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; and TerraPower, which acts as a technology design and development engineering company for nuclear reactors – Gates said: “A heroic effort is beginning [here]. I’m very excited about it.
“But we shouldn’t underestimate how incredibly difficult the energy transition challenge will be,” he added, noting that the effort will likely be “far, far more difficult” than anything he had worked on at Microsoft.