- Breakthrough Energy has raised over $1bn for clean energy development.
- Breakthrough Energy was established in 2015 by Bill Gates and a coalition of private investors.
- Breakthrough’s Catalyst programme provides a platform to accelerate the commercialisation of emerging technologies.
Breakthrough Energy, a non-profit group backed by Bill Gates, has raised over $1 billion to fund clean energy development. The group raised funds from seven major companies, including ArcelorMittal, General Motors, American Airlines, Bank of America, BlackRock, Boston Consulting Group and Microsoft. Breakthrough stated that the investors provided the funds in the form of grants, shares and commitments.
Breakthrough Energy was established in 2015 by Bill Gates and a coalition of private investors concerned about the impacts of climate change. The organisation supports innovations that will get the world to meeting net-zero emissions.
Breakthrough Energy launched its Catalyst programme in June 2020 as a platform to accelerate the commercialisation of emerging technologies. Catalyst aims to significantly decrease the price of new clean products via targeted investments. The programme also aims to enable projects to scale and increase their market availability rapidly. Catalyst focuses on four critical technologies for decarbonisation: Direct air capture (DAC); Green hydrogen; Long-duration energy storage (LDS), and Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)
Bill Gates believes that a new industrial revolution is essential for avoiding a global climate disaster. He states that half the technology needed to get to zero emissions either did not exist yet or was too expensive for much of the world to afford, but Catalyst is designed to change that and provide an effective way to invest in clean technology future.