Written by:
Paul Shin

Bill Gates and Renewable Energy

After resigning from the presidency of Microsoft in 2008, Bill Gates has invested his money in solving global problems of poverty and environment. Two years of concentration on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation must have made him crave for a new challenge in business. The founder of Microsoft has announced an alliance with Toshiba to develop the next generation energy resource that does not require fuel supply for more than 100 years.

According to the media, Terrapower, a venture company owned by Bill Gates, cooperated with Toshiba in information and technology to develop technologically advanced nuclear reactor, TWR. Established in 2000, Terrapower is a technology development firm which Bill Gates technically owns. He has invested approximately eight billion dollars into the TWR project.

This unprecedented reactor can be used for one hundred years without the replacement of fuel and is safe as well. Currently prevalent nuclear reactor systems of light-water reactors are not as efficient as they require fuel replacement once every few years. Bill Gates has proclaimed that he is going to invest several billion dollars into the commercialization of TWR, and Terrapower is expected to build TWR reactor that ranges from 100,000 to 1,000,000 kilowatts.

Toshiba also claimed that TWR development will be successful, as its subminiature reactor has technological similarity with TWR. However, the actual commercialization will take more than ten years because of difficulty in developing a nuclear resource that can endure hundred years of nuclear reaction. Worldwide focus is now on Bill Gates’ ability to establish another new energy resource kingdom with his outstanding business skill.

Thanks to Flickr for the photo.