From Paris- World leaders and business people meet to discuss both the problem and solutions for globel warming. One can clearly see that Graphite will play a key role as a needed commodity.
Led by Gates, about 20 private business leaders have signed on to the initiative, making their pledges conditional on governments also pledging more money, said a former U.S. government official who is familiar with the plan.
"They are committed to making increased investments in existing technologies and new breakthrough technologies to lower the cost of emissions reductions," the former U.S. government official said, adding that Gates is particularly concerned about alleviating the "energy poverty" that denies power to millions of people in India and elsewhere.
But a multinational research effort combining the investments of governments, corporations and private individuals could create intellectual property problems. It also remains to be seen how much of this money is new and how much will involve repackaging old promises.
"The Obama administration recognizes that this is a fundamental competitive advantage for the United States," the former U.S. official said, but getting such funds approved by a Republican-controlled Congress could be difficult.
Storing electricity is especially crucial for wind and solar power, which can be intermittent because of the weather. Improving batteries is key, and there have been breakthroughs both in technology and production announced this year, including by space and electric car tycoon Elon Musk, whose Gigafactory has begun producing large batteries for home power storage to make solar and wind power more viable.