Bill Gates says he’ll fly a lot less and eat more synthetic meat to fight climate change

Bill Gates on Friday said he aims to cut his carbon consumption by flying less and eating synthetic meat more often, reports CNBC. 

He wants to do his part to try to reduce the impact of a warming planet. He just published a book about climate change. It turns out that he's also been changing parts of his life to cut back on carbon emissions.

In Gates' latest Ask Me Anything session on Reddit on Friday, one user asked the Microsoft co-founder what people can do to reduce their carbon emissions. Among other things, he recommended that people consume less.

Another user responded by asking what he's doing to consume less.

"On the personal front, I am doing a lot more," Gates wrote. "I am driving electric cars. I have solar panels at my house. I eat synthetic meat (some of the time!). I buy green aviation fuel. I pay for direct air capture by Climeworks. I help finance electric heat pumps in low cost housing to replace natural gas."

In November Gates made headlines after he predicted that more than half of all business travel would go away after the coronavirus pandemic. On Friday he showed how that might manifest itself in his own schedule.

"I plan to fly a lot less now that the pandemic has shown we can get by with less trips," he wrote. Microsoft makes the Teams app that enables workers to chat and meet on video calls. While Gates stepped down from Microsoft's board last year, he remains a Microsoft investor, and he still reviews products the company is developing.

Gates also mentioned programs he's involved with to foster green efforts.

"I created Breakthrough Energy including the Venture fund, Fellows and Catalyst to help with climate," he wrote. "To me the innovation is what will make it possible to provide services to everyone without emissions."