Gates, Buffett Plan Energy Think Tank

Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Bershire Hathaway billionaire Warren Buffett today issued a call to “the great minds of our time,” to help reduce world energy consumption, dedicating 30 billion dollars toward scholarships, chair endowments at 24 universities, and construction, once a fuel-saving technology is developed.

Gates told reporters at a news conference in midtown Manhattan, “This task will require the kind of imagination that changes history. Imagine some sort of technology that allows writers to write, and readers to read, without using vast amounts of electricity to complete the task!!

"Or, what if there were some way for people to create and hear music without constantly recharging and downloading content, and draining our valuable power supply?”

Buffett added a note of humor to the proceedings. “I told Bill, heck, if there were some we could make faucets and toilets work without electronic beams, that alone would be worth the price of admission.”

The initiative is already gaining momentum. Richard Keitmaster, CEO of Bally Total Fitness, has pledged 10 million dollars toward an effort to learn how people can exercise without electricity.