Bill Gates proposes radical change to save the world

Bill Gates wants to save the world with a resounding change in the eating habits of the men and women who inhabit the world. The founder of Microsoft wants to offer stop eating meat of all kinds and switch to the consumption of what is called synthetic meat.

The mogul and philanthropist suggested the proposition during an interview with MIT Tech Review. The, doors explained what, in his opinion, could be the solutions available to humanity to try to reduce carbon emissions and control the overall increase in temperature.

The millionaire addressed these questions in a book he recently published. Entitled “How to avoid a climate catastrophe” – How to avoid a climate catastrophe -, the text analyzes the technologies needed to minimize the climate impact of sectors that are difficult to solve, such as the steel industry or agriculture.

Bill Gates proposes to stop consuming “traditional” meat and to lean towards the synthetic version

He is known to be a man who trusts in the power of innovation. For this reason, the Microsoft co-founder is convinced that technological advancements will facilitate, in various aspects, such as money and politics, the reduction of carbon emissions by countries.

It should be noted that in this scenario, agriculture is positioned as one of the polluting industries more difficult to modify. It is important to keep in mind that greenhouse gas emissions from the food industry represent 25% of total global emissions, according to the results of a study by the American Association for the Advancement of Science ( AAAS).

Of all the sub-industries of the agricultural and food world, livestock is positioned as one of the food production systems that contributes the most to global warming.

In fact, in general, cattle produce emissions of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). In addition, there is carbon dioxide (CO2) which is produced by the transformation of the land into pasture; or emissions from livestock vehicles such as tractors or trucks.

For Bill Gates, stopping eating meat is a viable and necessary solution

For Bill Gates, the solution is therefore for rich countries to stop consuming meat and switch to the synthetic version, which is made from various products of plant origin.

As detailed in the aforementioned interview, although the “80 poorest countries” must still depend on actual meat consumption, the future of food must floors for developed countries.

“I think all rich countries should switch to 100% synthetic beef,” he said. Also, he added that “you can get used to the difference in flavor, and the intention is that they will make it even better over time. Finally, this green premium product is small enough that you can change the [comportamiento de] people or use regulations to totally change demand. ”

Besides the disappearance of cattle, Bill Gates analyzed other alternatives to deal with the problem of gas emissions. Beyond that, he considers that none are effective enough to avoid future dependence on synthetic proteins.

“There is everything about being fed different foods, like a compound that gives them a 20% reduction [en las emisiones de metano]. But unfortunately these bacteria [en su sistema digestivo que producen metano] they are a necessary part for breaking down the grass. So I don’t know if there will be a concentration on this. I am scared [alternativas de proteínas sintéticas como las hamburguesas a base de plantas] they will be needed at least for the beef, ”he said.

In this sense, the founder of Microsoft has named companies such as Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat as those that aim to become a fully feasible and potentially accessible option, based largely on vegetable proteins. In this sense, he also mentioned “people like Memphis Meats, who do it at the cellular level, I don’t know if that will ever be cheap. But Impossible and Beyond have a roadmap, a quality roadmap and a roadmap. the costs, which make them totally competitive, ”he concluded.