Bill Gates: CO2 = Population x Services x Energy x Carbon

In his TED Talk on "innovating to zero, (Bill Gates: Innovating to zero! | TED Talk ), Bill Gates suggests that in order to save the planet from global overheating one of the four right hand side factors need to be reduced to zero. I’m not saying I believe his formula, but he does, and he arguably does have the resources and influence to at least try to force the planet to fit his questionable formula.

He is putting his hopes on either a miracle energy source being discovered in the next eight years, so that we can have the energy to keep providing services without having to unlock more carbon; or the population reducing to a point where there is a decrease in demand for the energy from unlocking more carbon.

Personally, I would prefer us to reduce services/appliances. Let’s get rid of the internet and mobile phone networks and high tech appliances to save the planet. Let’s talk instead face to face with our neighbours, and interact face to face with politicians, who also need to communicate via landlines, paper and in person. Let’s use more primitive, labour intensive technology to produce the necessities of life and step back and away from the quest for the internet of things and the singularity.

Don’t see any of the first three decreasing. I can’t imagine the first three not continuing to increase. That leaves carbon. It appears there are plenty of opportunities to transition to less carbon intensive energy and pollution sources.

2 Likes

According to the climate crisis cult in 2016 we had 12 more years before the point of no return. Now eight more years. If someone truly believes Gates’ formula, the only viable solution at this point would be depopulation on a massive scale over the next eight years.

How would we go about achieving that?

It’s too late. I believe the threshold for no return is a 2*C increase in global temperature, which will cause a cascading effect in which temperatures increases will be unstoppable. That is what is meant by ‘X amount of years before the point of no return’.

Pretty sure in this ted talk Bill Gate also talked about lowering the population to 10 to 15% through population reduction through “reproductive health services and vaccines.” These are some radical statements for someone like gates to be making.

It makes sense that 7 billion people would pollute more than 6 billion. We should stop paying people to have more than three children? Also educate people. Give them a vaccine if they want it. Not by force.

But if one were to believe, as the overheating cult do, that we are almost at the point of no return -
only eight years to reduce one of the factors to zero - based on Bill’s formula, what are the courses of action that can feasible be enacted within that time-frame?

And which is most acceptable to you. drastically cull the earth’s population, outlaw non-essential services such as the internet, the internet of things and the quest for the singularity, or ban carbon as a fuel?

My concern is the paving over of the United States, strain on resources, the wildlife habitat loss, the crowds and the traffic. Quality of life issues.

The world was going to end 20 years ago from global warming…

I’m still waiting for the shores to be polluted with the bodies of drowned polar bears

I share your incredulity. However, the technocrats and bankers who control the lion’s share of resources are going to work towards a solution that can be applied right now that is based on Bill’s formula. What solution are they most likely to activate?

Massive global depopulation would be their go to solution, IMO.

we have always been at war with eastasia

I share those concerns. How many resources would not need to be plundered if we abandoned the drive for more tech and appliances, and returned to efficient but lower tech methods of meeting basic human needs?

A lot.

Here’s a problem with that notion Europe already has a population problem but so does Japan. Whats Bill Gates trying to suggest here that Europe should even more less Euporean families?

Not sure. Europe is replacing it’s low birth rate with Islamic immigrants who will breed them out of existence. The U.S. population and the world population is definitely on the rise. I don’t think having 8 billion people is a great idea.

Here’s a thing me neither nor i do like to see Europe is replacing it’s low birth rate with Islamic immigrants that needs to change. I agree with you.

What’s wrong with eight billion people, if we spread out and dump aggregating in cities, high tech and consumerism and learn to live off the land again and look after mother nature?

If you reduce any one of those to zero you will reduce the rest as well and you would cut the population of the planet by half probably within forty years.

Not possible. There isn’t enough arable land on the planet to support a low tech agrarian society of 8 bn.

Thankfully, neither of us believe in the overheating cult, so Bill’s formula has no influence on us, unless he and his ilk try to forcefully apply it to the globe. But, assuming Bill is serious, how is he likely to try to apply the formula to save the planet within the 8 year window. He has his fingers in a lot of biotech research centres. Reducing the world population by releasing viruses and then providing tainted deadly vaccines would work. Stalling the western economies so the third word starves, would work.