Bill Gates’ TED Talk: Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050

TED posted Bill Gates‘ long-awaited TED Talk online earlier today, in which he set an ambitious goal: zero carbon emissions by 2050 — period. A key component of his goal as he presents it: new nuclear power plants that recycle waste uranium rather than adding more nuclear waste to the environment.

His ambitious presentation is already drawing fire from some: one nuclear physicist interviewed by CNN “compared Gates’ call for investment in nuclear technology that would reuse uranium to Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.” Regardless, Gates’ zeal for solving the big problems of the day shines through, and his commitment of his vast resources to solve them is hard not to admire. Bonus: he uses a jar of fireflies to make his point.