"Almost every way we make electricity today, except for the emerging renewables and nuclear, puts out CO2. And so, what we're going to have to do at a global scale, is create a new system. And so, we need energy miracles"
About this Quote
The phrase “at a global scale” is the quiet knife. It signals that boutique solutions and national virtue won’t cut it; China’s grid, India’s growth, Africa’s electrification, and America’s politics are all part of the same machine. Gates isn’t arguing for austerity, he’s arguing against the fantasy that decarbonization can happen without expanding energy access. That’s why he reaches for “a new system” rather than “better behavior.” Systems language invites infrastructure, investment, and policy - the domains where a billionaire-philanthropist can plausibly exert leverage.
“Energy miracles” is the rhetorical high wire: half inspiration, half provocation. “Miracles” sells urgency and hope, but it also smuggles in an implicit critique of current climate discourse: ambition without breakthroughs is just moral theater. Coming from Gates, it’s also branding. The tech founder’s worldview assumes hard problems yield to R&D, scale, and iteration. The subtext is a bet that innovation can outrun politics - and a challenge to governments and markets to fund the moonshot before physics collects the debt.
Quote Details
| Topic | Technology |
|---|---|
| Source | Bill Gates, "Innovating to Zero!" TED Talk (2010). TED.com transcript includes the lines about electricity CO2 emissions and the statement that "we need energy miracles". |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Gates, Bill. (2026, January 18). Almost every way we make electricity today, except for the emerging renewables and nuclear, puts out CO2. And so, what we're going to have to do at a global scale, is create a new system. And so, we need energy miracles. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/almost-every-way-we-make-electricity-today-except-17639/
Chicago Style
Gates, Bill. "Almost every way we make electricity today, except for the emerging renewables and nuclear, puts out CO2. And so, what we're going to have to do at a global scale, is create a new system. And so, we need energy miracles." FixQuotes. January 18, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/almost-every-way-we-make-electricity-today-except-17639/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Almost every way we make electricity today, except for the emerging renewables and nuclear, puts out CO2. And so, what we're going to have to do at a global scale, is create a new system. And so, we need energy miracles." FixQuotes, 18 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/almost-every-way-we-make-electricity-today-except-17639/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.




