Bill Gates going green-opportunity for Polish entrepreneurs

Autor: Eva Orlowska

When giants like Microsoft founder endorse eco-capitalism, the world accelerates in creating a low carbon economy. Polish entrepreneurs seeking partnerships in green energy will find plenty of opportunities in Mr. Gates’ backyard-the Pacific Northwest.

Green Revolution is already here. Climate change, backed by science and big names like Al Gore, Richard Branson, T. Boone Pickens, is no longer a figment of imagination. Business big and small is getting into the game for economic, security and environmental reasons. Boeing, Alaska Airlines, University of Washington and Port of Seattle among 40 others formed a coalition to assess and produce sustainable aviation fuel from biomass, forest and agricultural products. The Sustainable Aviation Fuels Northwest initiative is the first of its kind in the US.

On March 2, 2011, Secretary of State Clinton and Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Clean and Efficient Energy.

The memorandum’s objective is to promote dialogue and facilitate collaboration on scientific, technical and policy aspects of energy technologies. Poland, with a large agricultural base and high-energy prices, has already made a significant conversion from fossil to biofuel. In 2010, Poland’s biofuel consumption was valued at  $1.6 billion, representing 68% increase over the last four years. (Source: Datamonitor, March 2011).

Last week at the Climates Solutions fundraiser in Seattle, kicked off by Seattle folkrock musician Kris Orlowski, Mr. Gates, said, “Climate change is one of the most critical issues of our day.” Microsoft founder who changed the world with personal computers and now is trying to do the same with vaccines and seeds as the co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, urges to reduce CO2 emission down to zero by 2050 to avoid hunger and poverty from crop destruction and extreme weather conditions. He advocates a complete transition from coal and natural gas to clean alternatives and illustrates the process with his Climate Equation: CO2=PxSxExC where P=People, S=Services per Person E=Energy and C=Carbon per Unit Energy.

Last week at the Climates Solutions fundraiser in Seattle, kicked off by Seattle folkrock musician Kris Orlowski, Mr. Gates, said, “Climate change is one of the most critical issues of our day.” Microsoft founder who changed the world with personal computers and now is trying to do the same with vaccines and seeds as the co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, urges to reduce CO2 emission almost down to zero by 2050 to avoid hunger and poverty from crop destruction and extreme weather conditions. He advocates speedy transition from coal and natural gas to clean alternatives and illustrates the process with his Climate Equation: CO2=PxSxExC where P=People, S=Services per Person E=Energy and C=Carbon per Unit Energy.

Ambitious goals of this scale require enormous investment. Hundreds of companies in the Pacific Northwest are racing towards the solution. Hundreds more are needed. “We’re on a tight timeline,” says Mr. Gates. “It will take 20 years to invent a breakthrough and 20 more years to implement it.” What’s needed are game-changing Manhattan Projects that will deliver energy density and reliability at a competitive price. A spinoff from Intellectual Ventures, TerraPower, a traveling wave reactor that can be fueled by nuclear waste, is one of many carbon-free initiatives backed by Mr. Gates. When giants like Microsoft founder endorse eco-capitalism, the world accelerates in innovation. Entrepreneurs in the Pacific Northwest, in what is becoming a Green Valley, follow.

University of Washington Evans School of Public Affairs Professor Zbigniew Bochniarz whose expertise centers on market-driven environmental policies says, “Such large scale undertaking needs a well coordinated public-private partnership and long-term government commitment to Research and Development.” Also an affiliate faculty of the Microeconomics of Competitiveness program at Harvard Business School, frequent international speaker on environmental and sustainability topics and author/co-author of over 100 publications, Prof. Bochniarz says, “There is still time to avoid the worse impact of climate change if we take strong action now.” Prof. Bochniarz  co-edited “The Environment and Sustainable Development in the New Central Europe,” which contributed to the findings and subsequent Nobel Peace Prize received by  U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Al Gore in 2007.

Xconomy Seattle wrote: “Cleantech was minted as the greatest opportunity of the 21st century. The global energy and transportation market is about as big as any market in the world, worth an estimated $7 trillion a year.” Mr. Gates says, “The US, with its high-risk start-up culture and top universities, must attract smart brains and lead the way to innovation.” Prof. Bochniarz, who attended the event, adds “The University of Washington, number one federally funded public research university, where departments like Center for Commercialization (C4C) help bring ideas to market, is an ideal place for Polish innovators and entrepreneurs to find partners in green energy space.” The climate is ripe for cross-border cooperation.