Sustainable IT | Ted Samson » Google to invest millions in seeding green energy

November 28, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Google to invest millions in seeding green energy

TAGS: Alternative energy, Google, Solar power, Wind power

In a move with clear environmental and business benefits, Google has announced plans to pour tens of millions of dollars next year into research and development and related investments in renewable energy. The company also plans to invest hundreds of millions of greenbacks in breakthrough renewable energy projects that have a tangible financial ROI.

Dubbed RE < C (which presumably stands for "renewable energy costs less than coal-generated energy"), the initiative initially will focus on advanced solar thermal power, wind power technologies, enhanced geothermal systems and other potential breakthrough technologies.

"Our goal is to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal. We are optimistic this can be done in years, not decades," said Larry Page, Google co-founder and president of products

Coal is used to supply 40 percent of the energy in the world, according to Google. Coal-spawned energy also results in the production of greenhouse-gas emissions. Renewable energy can reduce the amount of GHGs spewed out each year.

As part of the RE < C, Google will work with various organizations in the renewable energy field, including companies, R&D laboratories, and universities. Among them, there's eSolar, a Pasadena, Calif.-based company specializing in solar thermal power which replaces the fuel in a traditional power plant with heat produced from solar energy.

There's also Makani Power, located in Alameda, Calif. The company is developing high-altitude wind-energy extraction technologies aimed at harnessing the most powerful wind resources.

Sergey Brin, Google co-founder and president of technology, cited by both the economic and environmental benefits of fostering renewable energy sources: "Cheap renewable energy is not only critical for the environment but also vital for economic development in many places where there is limited affordable energy of any kind."

Of course, "places in the world where affordable energy is sparse" aren't the only ones to benefit from emerging alternative-energy technologies. As with other companies that have power-hungry operations and are investing in renewable energy, Google's move ties in to its own long-term sustainability. Being able to reduce power bills and to generate its own electricity results in more resources to expand.

Posted by Ted Samson on November 28, 2007 09:06 AM

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