Established in 2015 by Bill Gates and a coalition of private investors concerned about the impacts of accelerating climate change, Breakthrough Energy supports the innovations that will lead the world to net-zero emissions.
We are building on the proven model of public-private partnerships that Gates has already used to transform health, education, and public welfare around the world. Breakthrough Energy is a network of entities and initiatives, including investment funds, nonprofit and philanthropic programs, and policy efforts linked by a common commitment to scale the technologies we need to achieve a path to net zero emissions by 2050. We are encouraging the development of new net-zero energy technologies, championing policies that speed innovation from lab to market, and bringing together governments, research institutions, private companies, and investors to expand and enhance clean-energy investment.
More than anything, we will succeed because of the network of partners we bring to this effort. The investors, philanthropists, corporate and policy leaders who are part of the Breakthrough Energy ecosystem – it will take all of us to compel the major market changes we need to create the future we want for the world.
Our Network
We don’t just think about how to get to zero. We help make it happen - and we don’t do it alone. We engage people across the country and around the world through our investments, our policy campaigns, and our partnerships with governments and companies.
Our efforts include:
Breakthrough Energy Action
Analysts, experts, and advocates working to advance smart public policy that encourages innovation, tackles decarbonization head on, and speeds the time it takes for a great idea to go from the lab to the consumer marketplace
Breakthrough Energy Ventures
Breakthrough Energy Ventures has raised over $2 billion in committed capital to support bold entrepreneurs building companies that can significantly reduce emissions from agriculture, buildings, electricity, manufacturing, and transportation
Breakthrough Energy Ventures Europe
A €100 million pilot fund and a partnership with the European Commission and the European Investment Bank to help decarbonize the European economy
Breakthrough Energy Solutions Canada
A $30 million effort with the Canadian government to accelerate clean-energy technology similarly there
Breakthrough Energy Sciences
A team of top clean energy scientists and technologists working to develop rigorous analytic tools to help the world reach global net-zero emissions and clean, reliable, affordable energy for all
Breakthrough Energy Fellows
Every year we will fund a cohort of the world’s most innovative researchers, scientists, and business mentors developing new clean technology solutions that have the potential to reduce emissions by at least 500 million tons per year by 2050
Breakthrough Energy Catalyst
A first-of-its-kind program to demonstrate how we can finance, produce, and buy the new solutions that will underpin a low-carbon economy
When it comes to the energy we use to power our lives, humans have been innovating for thousands of years. From wood to coal to oil, our technology has become more and more efficient.
Unfortunately, these energy transitions can take centuries, and we don’t have hundreds of years to wait. Climate change is already harming hundreds of millions of people. The world must speed up the cycle of innovation to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
At Breakthrough Energy, we are committed to supporting new technologies that change the way we live, eat, work, travel, and make things so we can avoid the most devastating impacts of climate change. We believe that funding cutting-edge research; investing in new clean technologies as they evolve from idea to market; crafting smart, tailored, and scalable energy policies; and forging deep partnerships among policymakers, innovators, and markets will lead to positive solutions that will bring clean energy to all.
FAQ
Established in 2015 by Bill Gates and a coalition of private investors concerned about the impacts of accelerating climate change, Breakthrough Energy supports the innovations that will lead the world to net-zero emissions. Breakthrough Energy is a network of entities and initiatives, including investment funds, nonprofit and philanthropic programs, and policy efforts linked by a common commitment to scale the technologies we need to achieve a path to net zero emissions by 2050. We are building on the proven model of public-private partnerships that Gates has already used to transform health, education, and public welfare around the world. Breakthrough Energy encourages the development of new net-zero energy technologies, champions policies that speed innovation from lab to market, and brings together governments, research institutions, private companies, and investors to expand and enhance clean-energy investment.
To help get the world on a path to net-zero emissions by 2050 by supporting cutting-edge research and development, investing in companies that turn game-changing technologies into scalable and transformative solutions, and advocating for policies that speed innovation from lab to market.
In December 2016, Bill Gates convened a network of private investors to create Breakthrough Energy Ventures, an investor-led fund that seeks to build cutting-edge companies that will help stop climate change. Since then, Breakthrough Energy Ventures has invested in over 50 companies developing potentially transformative emissions-reducing technologies. To date, Breakthrough Energy Ventures has raised over $2 billion to support bold entrepreneurs building companies that can significantly reduce emissions from agriculture, buildings, electricity, manufacturing, and transportation.
The first publicly available tool created by Breakthrough Energy Sciences, the Breakthrough Energy Grid Modeling Project, is a sophisticated, open-source, high-resolution synthetic model of the U.S. energy grid. The grid model can identify where new infrastructure is needed to maximize clean energy production and simulate the gains from implementing clean energy technologies such as energy storage, offshore wind, and HVDC (high voltage direct current) connections. Using our grid model, researchers, policymakers, advocates, and anyone interested in a clean energy future can evaluate the impact of current and future policy and innovation and see where we most need transformative action to achieve clean, reliable, and affordable energy across the U.S.
