Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, major corporations partner to accelerate clean-energy transition

Photo: American Airlines

Breakthrough Energy announced Sept. 20 that seven of the world’s leading corporations have committed to be the first anchor partners for Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, a groundbreaking program to accelerate the development of the climate-smart technologies necessary to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. These initial anchor partners include American Airlines, ArcelorMittal, Bank of America, The BlackRock Foundation, Boston Consulting Group, General Motors, and Microsoft.

Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, a program within the larger Breakthrough Energy network founded by Bill Gates, is a new model for public-private sector partnership to help build the foundation of the net-zero economy. Catalyst brings together businesses, governments, philanthropies, and individuals to invest in critical climate technologies that will make it possible to reach net-zero emissions. The program will initially focus on four key areas: direct air capture, green hydrogen, long-duration energy storage, and sustainable aviation fuel.

Since Catalyst was introduced earlier this year, it has already announced large-scale partnerships with the European Commission and European Investment Bank and U.S. DOE. The Sept. 20 announcement represents the first group of private sector organizations to formally join the Catalyst community of partners. These partners will come together with Breakthrough Energy to make significant investments in early commercial demonstration projects, offer perspectives on continued private sector engagement, provide insights on investment and offtake strategies, and help to encourage more companies to join Catalyst. Additional anchor partners may be announced leading up to the COP26, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in November.

Through direct investments, Catalyst and its partners will help reduce the costs of clean technologies so they can compete with and replace the greenhouse gas emitting counterparts we have today. This will lower what is referred to as Green Premiums and ultimately accelerate the widespread adoption of clean technologies.

Each of the initial Catalyst anchor partners is an industry leader that has taken meaningful steps to address climate change. These partners come from a range of industries including automotive, aviation, consulting, finance, and technology.

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