Branson: “We’re Killing the World”
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Branson at BIO. Branson on bio. And some of Branson’s bio. Sir Richard Branson joined BIO CEO Jim Greenwood on stage at the BIO International Convention for a talk on enterprises, the entrepreneurial spirit, a spirit of adventure. And the founder of brands ranging from Virgin Records to Virgin Galactic shared his views on the role of biotech in the face of climate shift.
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“We’re killing the world,” he remarked at the outset of his lengthy interview with BIO president and CEO Jim Greenwood. “Over the next 100 years we could do irreparable harm to the planet. But in this room are the people who can absolutely transform the world. We need scientists to come up with clean fuels, ideally not disrupting the food supply.”
As he has done elsewhere, he singled out LanzaTech for praise. “They take waste products from aluminium and steel mills, and it comes out as jet fuel. These are the kinds of fuels we need, or algae-based or isobutanol fuels. Biotech people are working on producing them in enough quantities, and I would urge as many companies as possible to work on those [kinds of technologies].”
“We’re going to run out of oil anyway, so why not have an alternative? Just as an insurance policy, if nothing else?”
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On his $25 million Virgin Earth Prize, which would be awarded to the first technology that comes up with a feasible way to extract carbon from the atmosphere, he noted that “we’ve had 10,000 submissions, which we’ve whittled down to 12 really good ideas. The Prize is still out there, but I think it’s a prize that will ultimately be awarded.”
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His advice to entrepreneurs: really understand what people want, and have a passion for the product or service, rather than a passion for making money. READ MORE and MORE (Times of San Diego) and MORE (BIOtechNOW) includes video
