Microsoft founder Bill Gates while addressing how to continue travelling without releasing greenhouse gases in future, in his blog, came up with a solution: “use clean electricity to run all the vehicles we can, and get cheap alternative fuels for everything else.” “To prevent the worst effects of climate change, we need to get to zero net greenhouse gas emissions in every sector of the economy within 50 years,” he said. “Decarbonizing how we move around is going to require lots and lots of innovation.”
The batteries that power electric vehicles have seen an 85% price drop since 2010, so they’re getting more affordable to purchase (although they’re still more expensive than gas-based options). Plus, increased competition in the market means there are more choices available to customers than ever before, from compact sedans to sleek sports cars. You’ll even be able to buy an all-electric pick-up truck soon thanks to legacy companies like GM and Ford and new carmakers like Rivian and Bollinger,” he said. However, Gates also pointed out that batteries are big and heavy.
The biggest cause of emissions in the US is transportation, Gates said. But while electric vehicles can be used for short trips and like work, replacing standard cars, city buses and garbage trucks, for example, they cannot be used on a long-haul or heavy-duty trips. So there’s a need cheap alternative fuels for things like passenger jets, cargo ships and 18-wheelers, he said.
Electrofuels could also be used in aeroplanes, Gates said. The only problem is, they cost from three to seven times as much as fossil fuels. “By using electricity to combine the hydrogen molecules in water with the carbon in carbon dioxide, we can create a liquid fuel that works in existing engines. The carbon dioxide this process uses is captured directly from the atmosphere, so burning electrofuels doesn’t add to overall emissions,” he explained.
The year 2020 has witnessed a decline in greenhouse gases due to global-level lockdown due to coronavirus pandemic that brought everyone to a standstill, however, Gates said that it’ll likely only amount to a reduction of 8% in total. The reduction was caused due to coronavirus lockdowns and not due to any solutions, he said. “This is not a situation that anyone would want to continue,” Gates said. “Also, these reductions are being achieved at, literally, the greatest possible cost.”
