Google is putting its substantial money where its mouth is on new energy technologies. From New Energy News:
When the story of this moment in history is told, it will be about the huge numbers of people in emerging economies coming out of poverty and the transition to New Energy that will make that emergence possible without further eroding the ecosystem and climate. An important part of that story may be Google’s role in facilitating the U.S. New Energy economy.
Google has recently invested
[1] $280 million in SolarCity for rooftop solar financing,
[2] $100 million in Oregon’s 845 megawatt Shepherd’s Flat project, the world’s largest wind farm,
[3] $38.8 million in 169.5 megawatts of North Dakota wind,
[4] power purchase agreements (PPAs) it access to 114 megawatts from an Iowa wind farm and 100 megawatts from a wind farm now under construction in Oklahoma,
[5] $168 million in a BrightSource Energy solar power plant now under construction, [6] $5 million in a solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant in Germany,
[7] over $100 million in California wind farms,
[8] one-third of the $6 billion for Atlantic Wind Connection (AWC), a transmission backbone system for offshore wind along the eastern seaboard, and
[9] in 9 or more ventures in startups, including ActaCell (batteries), Aptera (electric vehicles), Next Autoworks (advanced efficiency carmaker), Alta Rock (geothermal producer), RelayRides (car sharing), WeatherBill (weather insurance), Silver Spring Networks (smart grid technologies), Cool Planet Biofuels (next generation biofuels), Transphorm (power conversion).
And the corporation continues to invest in energy efficiency implementation at its data centers and in cutting edge advanced New Energy ventures.
Rick Needham, one of the Google execs leading the charge, recently told NewEnergyNews the company intends to show its business community peers that New Energy is as economically practical as it is environmentally sound. Click here to read the full article.
Here is a photo essay on why it is so important to move towards clean, renewable energy – for the Lubicon Cree in Northern Alberta, and for all of us:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz3nSscXamI]
More links:
Today’s Study: Google On Why Renewable Energy Is On The Way
Very nice double pronged post there Christine.
First the video…I think Stephen Harper needs to watch this every morning before breakfast until it sinks into his head that we cannot simply continue with this disgusting business as usual attitude. That’s no longer acceptable.
And as for Google, they were one of the first (if not the first) to print solar panels on metal sheets using the SIGS technology. A super fast way of creating solar panels at very low cost. When they first started doing this, I understand that the first 5 years of production was to be sent over to Europe. Makes me wonder why the complacent North American public didn’t grab hold of this one quickly and put it to use here, instead of essentially giving it away.
There are other manufacturers who have stepped up to the plate and are selling domestically. You just need to buy in larger quantities (10KW+ I believe) to make it viable for the companies.
I note that MIT has just released information that they have been able to print a solar panel on paper! Sounds impressive…I trust that they will have a way of protecting the paper in use so it doesn’t fall apart.
Almost all the predictions now are for renewable energy to be taking over from our fossil fuel based economy in the foreseeable future. That cannot come soon enough for me…and my grandchildren.
Agreed, Keith, it’s not a matter of “if” but “when”. Whether or not it will be in time to ensure your grandchildren a stable climate remains to be seen.