as I was waiting those long preparatory
ours before this final TEDx show I
couldn’t find my earphones what a big
problem don’t you think so well fermitas
cuz i badly needed to relax but can’t
without listening to music anyways I’m
sure all of you must be having some
problem of your own for some of you the
uncertain future of democracy might be a
big problem to others large-scale civil
conflicts and Wars might be a very
simple and to sum the migration crisis
go to an intellectuals party and you
hear about problems like threats from
gene editing and cloning are about the
biosecurity problem listen to the news
and you’ll soon find that the flood of
fake information or the nuclear security
problem are the real challenges yes all
these problems need solutions real and
serious solutions but all this needs
time and guess what we don’t have it we
really don’t have time we probably won’t
even have time to solve any of these
problems unless we solve the biggest
problem at our doorsteps right now and
that is climate change global warming
melting IceCaps increasing greenhouse
gas emissions oh I know I know most of
you are probably thinking oh come on not
again give us a break trust me I would
have if the world talked more about the
solutions rather than the problem if the
Paris Convention claims would have been
practicable if the rajendran signs of
progress so as to make the cop 21 2013 3
realizable if the 2030 target’s made the
2050 ones look plausible if a negotiated
rise of 2 degrees and average global
temperature would have been sufficient
it is not only I who is saying this but
also the world’s Economic Forum’s Global
shapers survey consistently for the last
three years it has been putting this
problem at the top of the list why
should you listen to the global shapers
because they are the world’s under 30s
with a different perspective and as of
2017 more than 50% of the world
population is under the age of 30 I’m
sure you realize who they are they are
your children
maybe some of your grandchildren yes
that’s us the young generation and it’s
high time that we exert this powerful
voice of ours and raise alerts the
threat is greater than what we have been
gearing for changes have started but
there is a need to do much more and
immediately it’s now or never for the
ones that are still not convinced a
quick data analysis might help just have
a look at the targets of these different
nations and compared them to where their
present status lies the blue line
represents the pledge and the white line
represents the target at the trend Japan
Canada Australia and finally USA the
picture is not very encouraging right
the targets are much more than what
seems practicable considering the
present status it feels good when the
different nations of the world joined
hands to find solutions to a common
problem but if you really look at the
commitments they make there are no very
close to the reductions required to
prevent a 2-degree rise I mean they
won’t even be a third of what is
required moreover if the countries have
to make their 2050 targets true they
have to set larger targets for 2030 as
well and not leave the major part of the
job for the later years added to this
American politicians couldn’t even agree
on whether climate change was real or
not much less on how to combat it this
favs the path for other countries who
might say well why should we make the
sacrifices and changes when we are only
but a small part of it this would start
the never-ending struggle of foods first
but the unfortunate truth is that carbon
is no local or national deterrent was
reduced it is transferred to the global
atmosphere within days so the problem is
much greater than who’s first what is
required is an international mindedness
every single year we’re emitting more
greenhouse gases than the previous one
and unless we do something about it it’s
going to continue this way so isn’t
there a solution then the answer is
there is there is still hope and there
are solutions to even the biggest
problem the world is facing today let me
tell you story from an interview in the
Atlantic magazine
once in 2015 in this office overlooking
Lake Washington
Bill Gates grabbed a writing pad and
scribbled arrows by the margins both
pointing inwards
he said the left arrow represented the
how the government’s worldwide could
dramatically increase spending on
research and development and the right
arrow represented the carbon tax the
left arrow was the push and the right
arrow was the pole and between the
arrows he sketched boxes to represent
areas for deployment of new technologies
and emphasized the scope for private
investors now what I particularly really
like about this man is that he doesn’t
only talk so when the whole world was at
Crossroads thinking we need an energy
innovation that provides us with energy
that is one cheaper than today’s
hydrocarbon energy to produce a zero
greenhouse gas emissions and three
bridges also has reliable as today’s
energy systems
Bill Gates was already working at the
solution he said when you put all those
requirements together what you need is
an energy miracle so how do you get this
energy miracle well Bill Gates along
with some of the richest people in the
world have launched a fund to invest in
solutions driven by technology this will
bring together governments research
institutions and private investors who
will work together to counter climate
change he alone has invested two billion
dollars and launched what is known as
Terra power today is what the future
might call an energy miracle Terra power
found that more than 90 percent of the
uranium mined was never used in a
reactor they’re using this precious
resource as a foil for their reactors
they also spotted some huge reserves of
pallet or uranium in the US which could
provide for the American energy needs
for the next 750 years don’t believe it
well have it from the horse’s mouth
no Gates and his colleagues looked at
solar wind every kind of energy you can
think of and determined that they’re all
important they all have their role
however nuclear was the only source of
energy which could provide the necessary
huge quantities that we need on a global
basis model of
the traveling wave reactor it is
different than other reactors because it
can use the type of uranium that today
is just thrown out as its fuel well
traditional nuclear power for every
hundred pounds of uranium we mine 90
something of it does not ever see a
reactor and so what an unfortunate waste
we’re able to use that uranium waste
that heretofore has been useless as the
basic fuel for this reactor and in fact
we spotted some fields of uranium in the
United States that are this type that’s
thrown out it’s called depleted uranium
and there’s enough of that to power the
United States fleet for 750 years it is
even more fantastic because they claim
to do away with not only the threat of
bomb creation but also managed to make
the plant safe enough to prevent another
Fukushima nuclear disaster I bet if you
need an energy miracle you have to walk
an extra technological mile and some
have already started general fusion a
Canadian company is progressing to be
the world’s first commercially viable
nuclear fusion power plant nuclear
fusion is now safe with zero possibility
of a meltdown scenario requires less
land area than other renewable energy
setups produces zero greenhouse gas
emissions only helium is exhaust and can
provide the world with energy for
hundreds of millions of years transport
constitutes 23% of energy related
emissions and in this context electric
cars are undoubtedly a welcome solution
but to use these cars at a wide scale we
need more efficient batteries and
battery charging systems researchers at
the University of Sussex have claimed to
discover a super capacitor which is ten
thousand times more powerful than
today’s batteries so much so that it can
recharge a car and just the time needed
to refuel a tank and that will need to
be recharged for the next six to eight
hours Wow I can’t wait for that
capacitor to hit the market anyways did
you know that about one fourth of the
world’s emissions come from feeding this
world of seven billion people and most
of that comes from the consumption of
meat one alternative could be to use
lab-grown meat so
suits which look feel and taste like the
real thing it might seem like science
fiction but companies and investors are
taking this really seriously beyond meat
as the world’s first company to have
created an entirely plant-based meat
burger I found a red salami I’d reread
the other day and it tasted really good
ever heard of what the pita and all
vegan kebab shop well try it for the
sake of our climate but I think the
ultimate solution to climate change is
what the Canadian startup carbon
engineering is working on taking carbon
dioxide directly from the air and making
foil out of it we’re getting energy by
using up the meanness itself isn’t it
simply fantastic more so because
according to carbon engineering direct
air capture removes far more co2 per
unit of land than trees or plants
friends believe it or not there are
hundreds of such ventures around the
world which can work wonders sidewalk
labs apart of alphabet Inc the parent of
Google is harnessing digital
technologies to solve today’s pressing
urban problems how’s that related to
climate change let me explain in one of
their recent projects they’re trying to
find hotspots of traffic congestion in
today’s modern cities and finding ways
on how to prevent or divert them this
can save a huge amount of co2 emissions
every year impressed then what would you
say about this master city the ultimate
solution city of our future On February
8th 2008 the government of Abu Dhabi
launched an ambitious plan to create
what aims to be the world’s sustainable
City Masdar City this is viewed by many
as one of the world’s most exciting
development
17 kilometers southeast from the center
of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates
a vision for all future cities is taking
shape
Masdar city aims to be zero waste zero
carbon many such endeavors are being
made around the world by innovative
giants as well as creative nobodies in
USA north energy innovations is
harnessing tidal energy from waves in
their test device Asura
meanwhile in Scotland floating wind
turbines are expected to provide
electricity to over 20,000 homes and
efforts are being made to convert the
5,500 degrees of heat at the Earth’s
core into electricity using geothermal
power plants yes there are hundreds of
such startups like solar roadways which
is using solar panels on roadways to
harness solar energy or sky mines which
is clearing industrial smog by making
baking soda out of it our new light
technologies which is collecting methane
which by the way is more potent as a
greenhouse gas than carbon and using it
to make plastic used in chairs or
smartphone cases amazing aren’t they
often these technologies seem too good
to be real but they are the fast forming
realities another thing to note in this
regard is that this revolutionary energy
miracle we’re looking for might seem
like a mega project and in totality it
is but there is also a need to diversify
there is no one solution to such a huge
problem there normally isn’t and
therefore wherever whoever is willing to
make a change needs to be encouraged and
funded and as Bill Gates rightly said if
you go back to Edison’s time there
wasn’t a lot of government funding there
were private investors funding him well
Bill Gates has given his two billion and
is continuously lending his more
expensive asset his brains members of
the breakthrough Energy Coalition and
amongst us members Jeff Bezos from
Amazon Jack Ma from the Alibaba Group
and Richard Branson have committed to
investing in billions over the next 20
years in solutions driven by technology
but we are in Jeff Bezos our
ma what can we do the answer is we can
still do a lot we can suggest innovative
ideas we can research our own solutions
we can implement our solutions and
small-scale pilot projects we can talk
to our employer companies about
partnering with one of these fantastic
ideas discussed today and of course if
not in millions we can all contribute
with our own little share because we are
the majority and this is a mammoth
problem please do not let this die down
as just another TEDx talk I’m sure all
of us will think of and contribute in
our own little ways thank you for
listening and thanks in advance for helping save the world
ours before this final TEDx show I
couldn’t find my earphones what a big
problem don’t you think so well fermitas
cuz i badly needed to relax but can’t
without listening to music anyways I’m
sure all of you must be having some
problem of your own for some of you the
uncertain future of democracy might be a
big problem to others large-scale civil
conflicts and Wars might be a very
simple and to sum the migration crisis
go to an intellectuals party and you
hear about problems like threats from
gene editing and cloning are about the
biosecurity problem listen to the news
and you’ll soon find that the flood of
fake information or the nuclear security
problem are the real challenges yes all
these problems need solutions real and
serious solutions but all this needs
time and guess what we don’t have it we
really don’t have time we probably won’t
even have time to solve any of these
problems unless we solve the biggest
problem at our doorsteps right now and
that is climate change global warming
melting IceCaps increasing greenhouse
gas emissions oh I know I know most of
you are probably thinking oh come on not
again give us a break trust me I would
have if the world talked more about the
solutions rather than the problem if the
Paris Convention claims would have been
practicable if the rajendran signs of
progress so as to make the cop 21 2013 3
realizable if the 2030 target’s made the
2050 ones look plausible if a negotiated
rise of 2 degrees and average global
temperature would have been sufficient
it is not only I who is saying this but
also the world’s Economic Forum’s Global
shapers survey consistently for the last
three years it has been putting this
problem at the top of the list why
should you listen to the global shapers
because they are the world’s under 30s
with a different perspective and as of
2017 more than 50% of the world
population is under the age of 30 I’m
sure you realize who they are they are
your children
maybe some of your grandchildren yes
that’s us the young generation and it’s
high time that we exert this powerful
voice of ours and raise alerts the
threat is greater than what we have been
gearing for changes have started but
there is a need to do much more and
immediately it’s now or never for the
ones that are still not convinced a
quick data analysis might help just have
a look at the targets of these different
nations and compared them to where their
present status lies the blue line
represents the pledge and the white line
represents the target at the trend Japan
Canada Australia and finally USA the
picture is not very encouraging right
the targets are much more than what
seems practicable considering the
present status it feels good when the
different nations of the world joined
hands to find solutions to a common
problem but if you really look at the
commitments they make there are no very
close to the reductions required to
prevent a 2-degree rise I mean they
won’t even be a third of what is
required moreover if the countries have
to make their 2050 targets true they
have to set larger targets for 2030 as
well and not leave the major part of the
job for the later years added to this
American politicians couldn’t even agree
on whether climate change was real or
not much less on how to combat it this
favs the path for other countries who
might say well why should we make the
sacrifices and changes when we are only
but a small part of it this would start
the never-ending struggle of foods first
but the unfortunate truth is that carbon
is no local or national deterrent was
reduced it is transferred to the global
atmosphere within days so the problem is
much greater than who’s first what is
required is an international mindedness
every single year we’re emitting more
greenhouse gases than the previous one
and unless we do something about it it’s
going to continue this way so isn’t
there a solution then the answer is
there is there is still hope and there
are solutions to even the biggest
problem the world is facing today let me
tell you story from an interview in the
Atlantic magazine
once in 2015 in this office overlooking
Lake Washington
Bill Gates grabbed a writing pad and
scribbled arrows by the margins both
pointing inwards
he said the left arrow represented the
how the government’s worldwide could
dramatically increase spending on
research and development and the right
arrow represented the carbon tax the
left arrow was the push and the right
arrow was the pole and between the
arrows he sketched boxes to represent
areas for deployment of new technologies
and emphasized the scope for private
investors now what I particularly really
like about this man is that he doesn’t
only talk so when the whole world was at
Crossroads thinking we need an energy
innovation that provides us with energy
that is one cheaper than today’s
hydrocarbon energy to produce a zero
greenhouse gas emissions and three
bridges also has reliable as today’s
energy systems
Bill Gates was already working at the
solution he said when you put all those
requirements together what you need is
an energy miracle so how do you get this
energy miracle well Bill Gates along
with some of the richest people in the
world have launched a fund to invest in
solutions driven by technology this will
bring together governments research
institutions and private investors who
will work together to counter climate
change he alone has invested two billion
dollars and launched what is known as
Terra power today is what the future
might call an energy miracle Terra power
found that more than 90 percent of the
uranium mined was never used in a
reactor they’re using this precious
resource as a foil for their reactors
they also spotted some huge reserves of
pallet or uranium in the US which could
provide for the American energy needs
for the next 750 years don’t believe it
well have it from the horse’s mouth
no Gates and his colleagues looked at
solar wind every kind of energy you can
think of and determined that they’re all
important they all have their role
however nuclear was the only source of
energy which could provide the necessary
huge quantities that we need on a global
basis model of
the traveling wave reactor it is
different than other reactors because it
can use the type of uranium that today
is just thrown out as its fuel well
traditional nuclear power for every
hundred pounds of uranium we mine 90
something of it does not ever see a
reactor and so what an unfortunate waste
we’re able to use that uranium waste
that heretofore has been useless as the
basic fuel for this reactor and in fact
we spotted some fields of uranium in the
United States that are this type that’s
thrown out it’s called depleted uranium
and there’s enough of that to power the
United States fleet for 750 years it is
even more fantastic because they claim
to do away with not only the threat of
bomb creation but also managed to make
the plant safe enough to prevent another
Fukushima nuclear disaster I bet if you
need an energy miracle you have to walk
an extra technological mile and some
have already started general fusion a
Canadian company is progressing to be
the world’s first commercially viable
nuclear fusion power plant nuclear
fusion is now safe with zero possibility
of a meltdown scenario requires less
land area than other renewable energy
setups produces zero greenhouse gas
emissions only helium is exhaust and can
provide the world with energy for
hundreds of millions of years transport
constitutes 23% of energy related
emissions and in this context electric
cars are undoubtedly a welcome solution
but to use these cars at a wide scale we
need more efficient batteries and
battery charging systems researchers at
the University of Sussex have claimed to
discover a super capacitor which is ten
thousand times more powerful than
today’s batteries so much so that it can
recharge a car and just the time needed
to refuel a tank and that will need to
be recharged for the next six to eight
hours Wow I can’t wait for that
capacitor to hit the market anyways did
you know that about one fourth of the
world’s emissions come from feeding this
world of seven billion people and most
of that comes from the consumption of
meat one alternative could be to use
lab-grown meat so
suits which look feel and taste like the
real thing it might seem like science
fiction but companies and investors are
taking this really seriously beyond meat
as the world’s first company to have
created an entirely plant-based meat
burger I found a red salami I’d reread
the other day and it tasted really good
ever heard of what the pita and all
vegan kebab shop well try it for the
sake of our climate but I think the
ultimate solution to climate change is
what the Canadian startup carbon
engineering is working on taking carbon
dioxide directly from the air and making
foil out of it we’re getting energy by
using up the meanness itself isn’t it
simply fantastic more so because
according to carbon engineering direct
air capture removes far more co2 per
unit of land than trees or plants
friends believe it or not there are
hundreds of such ventures around the
world which can work wonders sidewalk
labs apart of alphabet Inc the parent of
Google is harnessing digital
technologies to solve today’s pressing
urban problems how’s that related to
climate change let me explain in one of
their recent projects they’re trying to
find hotspots of traffic congestion in
today’s modern cities and finding ways
on how to prevent or divert them this
can save a huge amount of co2 emissions
every year impressed then what would you
say about this master city the ultimate
solution city of our future On February
8th 2008 the government of Abu Dhabi
launched an ambitious plan to create
what aims to be the world’s sustainable
City Masdar City this is viewed by many
as one of the world’s most exciting
development
17 kilometers southeast from the center
of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates
a vision for all future cities is taking
shape
Masdar city aims to be zero waste zero
carbon many such endeavors are being
made around the world by innovative
giants as well as creative nobodies in
USA north energy innovations is
harnessing tidal energy from waves in
their test device Asura
meanwhile in Scotland floating wind
turbines are expected to provide
electricity to over 20,000 homes and
efforts are being made to convert the
5,500 degrees of heat at the Earth’s
core into electricity using geothermal
power plants yes there are hundreds of
such startups like solar roadways which
is using solar panels on roadways to
harness solar energy or sky mines which
is clearing industrial smog by making
baking soda out of it our new light
technologies which is collecting methane
which by the way is more potent as a
greenhouse gas than carbon and using it
to make plastic used in chairs or
smartphone cases amazing aren’t they
often these technologies seem too good
to be real but they are the fast forming
realities another thing to note in this
regard is that this revolutionary energy
miracle we’re looking for might seem
like a mega project and in totality it
is but there is also a need to diversify
there is no one solution to such a huge
problem there normally isn’t and
therefore wherever whoever is willing to
make a change needs to be encouraged and
funded and as Bill Gates rightly said if
you go back to Edison’s time there
wasn’t a lot of government funding there
were private investors funding him well
Bill Gates has given his two billion and
is continuously lending his more
expensive asset his brains members of
the breakthrough Energy Coalition and
amongst us members Jeff Bezos from
Amazon Jack Ma from the Alibaba Group
and Richard Branson have committed to
investing in billions over the next 20
years in solutions driven by technology
but we are in Jeff Bezos our
ma what can we do the answer is we can
still do a lot we can suggest innovative
ideas we can research our own solutions
we can implement our solutions and
small-scale pilot projects we can talk
to our employer companies about
partnering with one of these fantastic
ideas discussed today and of course if
not in millions we can all contribute
with our own little share because we are
the majority and this is a mammoth
problem please do not let this die down
as just another TEDx talk I’m sure all
of us will think of and contribute in
our own little ways thank you for
listening and thanks in advance for helping save the world
Please follow and like us: