Why Bill Gates’ climate VC firm is focused on the tech we don’t have

(Protocol) Breakthrough Energy has emerged as one of the most prominent climate venture capital and policy shops in the U.S. That’s perhaps unsurprising given it’s the brainchild of Bill Gates, a guy you’ve probably heard of.

Gates himself put a lot of the thinking behind Breakthrough Energy in his 2021 book “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster,” including how the various parts of the organization weigh what to invest in, how to scale up innovation and how to lower what the group calls a “green premium.” (The latter is a term to describe why some climate-friendly options cost more than their dirty counterparts and reflects how our current economy basically pretends climate change doesn’t exist.) That book — and Breakthrough Energy in general — became a trendsetter in terms of defining what climate technology and startups other VC firms could invest in and how to shape policies that can spur innovation.

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