Rich countries should move to 100% synthetic beef, says Gates; Twitter explodes

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has said that rich nations should switch to "100% synthetic beef" since "poorest 80 countries" won't be eating synthetic beef.

Gates claimed that people will "get used to the taste difference" while asserting that it will "taste better over time". The billionaire philanthropist has discussed ways to tackle climate change in his new book, “How to avoid a climate disaster: The solutions we have and the breakthroughs we need,” which was released on Tuesday.

"Eventually, that green premium is modest enough that you can sort of change the [behaviour of] people or use regulation to totally shift the demand,” Gates said.

The comments by Gates come after research showed burping cows are massive emissions contributors impacting greenhouse gas methane in the world. The researchers had said that emissions from cattle were "almost as large as those from fossil fuels".

The Twitterati, however, had several reasons to discount Gates' explanation.