Co-founded the Fund for Innovative Climate and Energy Research — first dedicated geoengineering fund
Gates co-created the Fund for Innovative Climate and Energy Research (FICER) with climate scientist Ken Caldeira, providing personal funding separate from the Gates Foundation to support research into solar geoengineering and other unconventional climate interventions. FICER became one of the first dedicated funding sources for solar radiation management research, supporting work at Harvard University and the Carnegie Institution for Science. Gates argued that responsible scientific investigation of geoengineering was necessary given the risk that emissions might remain too high despite mitigation efforts.
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Funded the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation — creating the Global Burden of Disease study
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Related Accomplishments
March 2025
Breakthrough Energy Ventures Invests in Savor — Butter Made Directly from Carbon
Breakthrough Energy Ventures backed Savor, a startup that produces butter using carbon dioxide and hydrogen — derived from atmospheric carbon and water — without any conventional agriculture, animals, or farmland. Savor's thermochemical process generates saturated fat with an identical molecular profile to dairy butter while using an estimated 99.9 percent less water and zero agricultural land. The product launched at Michelin-starred restaurants in 2025, with supermarket availability targeted for 2027, as part of Gates's broader bet on food-system decarbonisation.
2024
Breakthrough Energy Catalyst Invests $40 Million in Deep Sky Carbon Removal
Breakthrough Energy Catalyst — Gates's industrial decarbonisation investment vehicle — committed $40 million to Deep Sky, a Quebec-based company developing commercial direct air capture facilities across Canada. The investment marked Catalyst's first in the DAC sector. Deep Sky's Alpha facility in Alberta is designed as a testing ground for multiple next-generation carbon removal technologies, with the goal of proving the cost trajectory needed to make DAC viable at planetary scale.
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