American Airlines is investing $100 million as one of the anchor partners for Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, which aims to accelerate clean energy technologies.
Founded by Gates in 2015, Breakthrough Energy Catalyst is a cooperation of businesses, governments and private philanthropy to reduce the "green premium," the more expensive costs associated with using technology and processes that help reduce carbon production as opposed to traditional fossil-fuel-emitting methods. That includes development of sustainable aviation fuel, which currently is much more expensive to produce than standard fuel.
"Avoiding a climate disaster will require a new industrial revolution," Gates said in a statement. "We need to make the technologies and products that don’t cause emissions as cheap as those that do, so the whole world can afford to put them to use."
American's investment is part of more than $1 billion in corporate funding announced by Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, including backing from Microsoft, General Motors, Bank of America, Boston Consulting Group and ArcelorMittal SA.