The U. S. government should triple spending on basic research and development of alternative sources of energy, says Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

ABC News reported on Sunday that Gates and the American Energy Innovation Council want spending increased to $16 billion a year and urge the creation of an independent body to oversee national energy strategy.

Gates also told ABC that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico underlined the need for progress in the area of alternative sources.

He further said, "I think in any crisis like this, the key thing is to avoid them happening in the future. When there have been (disruptions) in the past, we've always said, no, let's put a solution in place. But, in fact, the only real solution is to take American ingenuity and fund R&D to get energy in different forms that we're not sending as much money away and that it's stable and reliable."

"I would distinguish between spending and investment. What we're talking about is about 1 percent of what the United States spends on energy being devoted (instead) to R&D," Gates said, when asked about increased spending in a time of economic uncertainty and budget deficits.

Gates further added, "Then you can tap into the unique ability in this country, through its universities, the national labs and entrepreneurs, to give us a form of energy that is both cheaper, not dependent on foreign supply, and is environmentally designed so that we're not emitting carbon and getting into the climate change problem." (With Inputs from Agencies)