[Vision2020] 1% to the Rescue: Gates & Buffett Invest Billions in Nuclear & Solar Energy

[Ted Moffett]

The promise of Gen. IV nuclear reactors that can be mass produced to
lower cost with improved safety, that generate less waste and can burn
waste (depleted uranium) as fuel, might receive a boost from Gates.
The promise of nuclear power to replace fossil fuels is very
controversial, but I think the environmental movement is not open
minded enough to new nuclear power technologies that may be able to
solve the cost, safety and waste problems of older nuclear reactor
designs.

Whatever the strategy of Buffett in his aquisition of a massive solar
photovoltaic operation, let's hope it's based on the economic promise
of solar as an alternative energy to replace fossl fuels:

http://www.china.org.cn/business/2011-12/08/content_24099212.htm

China.org.cn, December 8, 2011

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates confirmed on Wednesday that he is
holding talks with China on the development of a new and safer kind of
nuclear reactor.

"The idea is to be very low cost, very safe and generate very little
waste," Gates said at a news conference after he discussed cooperation
with Ministry of Science and Technology officials in Beijing on
Wednesday.

Gates told the ministry that "very good discussions" were being had
and that up to US$1 billion could be invested, the Associated Press
reports.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/dec/07/warren-buffett-invests-in-solar-energy

Warren Buffett to buy Californian solar power farm worth $2bn

The billionaire investor Warren Buffett has agreed to buy a solar
power farm in California worth $2bn (£1.3bn).

Buffett's MidAmerican Energy Holdings will take over Topaz Solar Farm,
which is expected to produce enough power to run 160,000 homes when it
is up and running in 2015. The farm, halfway between Los Angeles and
San Francisco, is the world's second-largest photovoltaic plant under
construction and is expected to generate 550-megawatts of electricity
or about half the power of a nuclear reactor.

The deal comes hot on the heels of a string of green energy
investments by the famous investor. MidAmerican, which is part of
Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway empire, is the largest wind energy
provider in the US where it operates more than a dozen wind farms.

MidAmerican sealed the deal for Topaz on Wednesday, a day after the
seller, First Solar, failed to secure a US government loan guarantee
for the project. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but First
Solar's difficulties securing funding for the vast project suggests
Buffett probably got a good deal. First Solar will continue to build
the farm on behalf of Berkshire and it is due to open in early 2015.

Greg Abel, chief executive officer of MidAmerican, said: "[Topaz]
demonstrates that solar energy is a commercially viable technology
without the support of governmental loan guarantees."

Analysts suggested Buffett is moving from wind to solar power to take
advantage of lucrative tax breaks. Gerard Reid, an analyst at
Jefferies, said: "The reason for the move from wind to solar is very
simple. Tax credits for wind in the US expire at the end of next year,
while solar ones run till 2015."

In February Buffett, the world's third-richest man, said he was keen
to make a fresh wave of "major acquisitions". "Our elephant gun has
been reloaded, and my trigger finger is itchy," he told investors in
his annual letter to shareholders.Last month he ended his moratorium
on investing in technology, taking a $12bn (£7.5bn) stake in IBM, the
100-year-old tech firm. Berkshire Hathaway has been buying shares in
IBM since March and now owns 64 million shares, or about 5.4% of the
outstanding stock.
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Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett