Friday 29 July 2011

Video: Bill Gates on Energy (from WIRED Conference, May 2011)

Each time I listen to Bill I learn a ton.  He is always able to get down to the core of the issues in whichever field he chooses to study - be it healthcare, education, or in this case, energy.

In this video, WIRED magazine editor in chief Chris Anderson (author of “Free” and “The Long Tail”) asks Bill on the issue of energy.  Some questions from the interview:

  • Why is energy an important issue?  (Because it impacts everyone in every industry/country.  Its impact on the poor will have a rippling effect on the rich as well)
  • How does the Japanese nuclear disaster affect your view on nuclear power?  (Nuclear power is 1 million times more potent per reaction, compared to coal and natural gas)
  • What are some of the future designs of nuclear power plants?  Why does it matter?
  • How we solve this energy generation issue has an implication on the climate as well.
  • What are some of the biggest challenges in energy farming? (This refers to solar, wind, etc…  One of the big issues is stability for grid scale energy)

Here’s a very short summary of the talk.  During the talk he recommended some books by Vaclav Smil.  It’s on Bill’s book recommendation page.

Enjoy!

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