Bill Gates' nonprofit group Breakthrough Energy announced on Monday that it has raised over $ 1 billion from seven major companies, including ArcelorMittal and General Motors, to fund clean energy development.
American Airlines, Bank of America, BlackRock, Boston Consulting Group, and Microsoft were also early adopters of the Catalyst initiative.
The amount raised to date exceeds $ 1 billion and is provided in the form of grants, shares and commitments to purchase developed technologies.
Launched in June, Catalyst has already established partnerships with the European Commission, the European Investment Bank and the US Department of Energy.
The idea is to support the development of new energy solutions to combat climate change by bringing together the public and private sectors and funding commercialization steps. More companies are expected to join the initiative.
The project will initially focus on accelerating the adoption of four technologies: direct carbon capture, clean hydrogen, long-term energy storage, and sustainable aviation fuel.
But he also plans to consider other innovations, such as reducing the carbon footprint of steel and cement.
Avoiding a climate catastrophe will require a new industrial revolution. Half of the technologies needed to achieve zero emissions either do not exist yet or are too expensive for most of the world, ”Gates said in a statement. "Catalyst is designed to change that and provide an effective way to invest in the future of clean technologies," added the Microsoft founder.
Some of the companies involved indicated the amounts contributed in separate issues. The fund of the investment company BlackRock and Microsoft donated $ 100 million each. American Airlines has pledged $ 100 million for the program, while ArcelorMittal has pledged to transfer $ 100 million over the next five years through its XCarb innovation fund.
