Google has established several green initiatives to tackle climate change, including developing renewable energy sources. Their goal is to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy that is cheaper than coal by investing in startups developing technologies like solar, wind, and geothermal. Google is also making their own operations more sustainable through measures like installing solar panels, encouraging electric vehicles, and designing efficient data centers. Their "Clean Energy 2030" plan aims to wean the US off coal and oil for electricity by 2030 through these types of public-private partnerships and innovations that bring renewable energy mainstream.

1. Google Green Initiative
Simon Khin
ITMGMT 550: City University of Seattle
Professor Mark D. Bowles, Ph. D.

2. Google Green Initiative 2
Introduction
When Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin named the search engine they built
"Google," they had no idea that they were creating a new verb for the English language. The
“Google” name reflects the immense volume of information that exists, Google's mission is to
organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.
The philanthropic arm of Google, Google.org,uses the power of information to help
people better their lives by developing and investing in tools and partnerships that can help bring
shared knowledge to bear on the world's most pressing challenges in the areas of climate change,
economic development and global health.
As an attempt to tackle Climate Change, Google has included Green Energy Initiative as
a core part of their philanthropic strategy. Coal is the primary power source for many around the
world, supplying 40% of the world's electricity. The greenhouse gases it produces are one of the
greatest environmental challenges. Making electricity produced from renewable energy cheaper
than coal would be a key part of reducing global greenhouse-gas emissions.
In 2010 Google Energy, a subsidiary of Google, applied for approval from the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission to become an electricity marketer, essentially giving it the
authority to buy and sell bulk power at market prices, the way large utilities and energy traders
do. Google’s Green Initiative will help it better manage supplies for its own operations and give
it greater access to renewable energy sources. Google’s “Clean Energy 2030” provides a
potential path to weaning the U.S. off of coal and oil for electricity generation by 2030. This is
Google’s attempt to transform Energy industry is similar to the way Google transformed mobile
and internet industry. If Google's proposal is successfully executed as plan, it may benefit the
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3. Google Green Initiative 3
US by increasing energy security, protecting the environment, creating new jobs, and helping to
create the conditions for long-term prosperity.
RE<C is Google’s new strategic initiative to develop electricity from renewable energy
sources that will be cheaper than electricity produced from coal. Larry Page, Google Co-founder
and President of Products explained reasons for Google’s involvement with (RE<C) based on the
Company’s expertise in designing and building large-scale, energy-intensive facilities by
building efficient data centers, and they plan to apply the same creativity and innovation to the
challenge of generating renewable electricity at globally significant scale, and produce it cheaper
than from coal. Google’s goal is to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is
cheaper than coal. Once large-scale renewable deployments are cheaper than coal, the world will
have the option to meet a substantial portion of electricity needs from renewable sources and
significantly reduce carbon emissions.
Business Strategy
Google’s report “Clean Energy 2030” (Jeffery Greenblatt, knol.google.com) was released
in October 2008. The idea of the plan is to stimulate discussion, action and debate on clean
energy. The report states that they have been analyzing how they – and everyone - can reduce
fossil fuel use by 2030. The report covers the electricity section, personal vehicles, economics,
jobs, carbon dioxide savings, and their own role in the plan.
Well before the report was released, Google had already begun green efforts. In the
summer of 2007, their immense headquarters in Mountain View, CA went solar. More than
9,200 solar panels generate about 1.6 megawatts of electricity. That is equal to powering about
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4. Google Green Initiative 4
one thousand homes. It is the largest solar installation on a corporate campus in the U.S.,
covering about four acres.
Google’s vice president of real estate, David Radcliffe, said, “We wanted to dispel the
myth that you can’t be both green and profitable.” (MSNBC website, “Google Says ‘Here Comes
the Sun’”, October 17, 2006). About 30% of their immense energy needs are furnished from
solar. Google’s San Francisco office has also earned the Gold Leed (Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design) rating, showing their green commitment.
Google’s RechargeIT initiative was also launched in 2007, aiming at speeding up use of
plug-in electric vehicles. Google created the GFleet, a free demonstration fleet shared by
employees. They have been collecting data from the fleet to demonstrate savings. Google
addresses fuel economy and reduction of the carbon footprint by promoting hybrids and electric
cars but the initiative also addresses alternative ways of commuting (biking, walking, public
transport) as a way to reduce carbon.
To improve living green at home, Google introduced the Google PowerMeter and TED
(“The Energy Detective”) 5000. In October 2009, Google announced that some employees had
been testing a high-resolution device at their homes. The TED 5000 measures home electricity
use and works in concert with the PowerMeter’s software to analyze it.
Using the free software tool, the device can help families evaluate their energy use and
better conserve or change behavior. The tool lives as a secure widget on iGoogle, and it
communicates with smart meters.
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Google uses a lot of energy. Their own five step plan to green commitment, outlined on
their website under “Green Initiatives”, is:
* Minimize electricity used by servers
* Conserve fresh water by using recycled water
* Reduce energy used by the data center facilities
* Reuse or recycle all electronic equipment that leaves the data centers
* Work with peers to advance better energy practices
In February 2010, the internet giant announced a new mirror technology made of
“unusual materials” for solar energy. They developed the prototype which will be tested for one
to three years, says Google’s green energy czar, Bill Weihl. (Reuters. “Exclusive: Google
develops prototype mirror for solar energy” by Poornima Gupta, February 26, 2010). If the
testing goes well, they would use it and it could presumably be available commercially.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved Google’s application to
buy and sell energy in February 2010. The entity Google Energy LLC, a subsidiary, was formed
to develop opportunities and manage the cost of energy for Google, says the company. Google’s
Niki Fenwick said that their application was proactive to face its carbon-neutral plans. They want
flexibility in procuring power for their data centers, she said. (Wall Street Journal online.
"Google Cleared on Power Bid", by Mark Peters. February 19, 2010).
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Google has been investing in renewable energy sectors. They have put money into high
altitude wind (Makani Power), solar thermal start-ups (eSolar and BrightSource), enhanced
geothermal systems (Potter Drilling and AltaRock Energy), plug-in vehicles (Aptera Motors and
Acta Cell), and well as their own green programs. Google is supporting development of green
technology through its venture capitalist firm, Google Ventures. The $100 million fund is used
for innovative start-ups and covers a broad range of industries, including green technology.
Conclusion
Energy industry is continuously evolving and Google intends to be one of the major
transformers of the industry as a way of tackling Climate Change. To do this, Google establishes
key global public-private partnerships to reach out into every aspect of this complex industry to
implement their vision. Google’s goal is to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity
that is cheaper than coal. Once large-scale renewable deployments are cheaper than coal, the
world will have the option to meet a substantial portion of electricity needs from renewable
sources and significantly reduce carbon emissions. Google’s green strategy is developing
innovative technologies, and aggressively invest and acquiring emerging green technologies they
feel have the potential to add value to their company and its goals. Google’s Green Initiative
will help it better manage supplies for its own operations and give it greater access to renewable
energy sources.
Google’s “Clean Energy 2030” provides a potential path to weaning the U.S. off of coal
and oil for electricity generation by 2030. Google’s involvement with Green Initiatives will
leverage Company’s expertise in designing and building large-scale, energy-intensive facilities
by building efficient data centers, and they plan to apply the same creativity and innovation to
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7. Google Green Initiative 7
the challenge of generating renewable electricity at globally significant scale, and produce it
cheaper than from coal.
References
Retrieved on June 10, 2010 http://www.google.com/corporate/green/
Braden Reddall (2008). Google uses brand power to lobby for changes in energy policy. New
York Times.
Retrived on June 10, 2010 from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/technology/02iht-
google.1.16637964.html
Marlow, Jeffrey (2010). Q&A: Google’s Green Energy Czar. New York Times.
Retrived on June 10, 2010 from http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/qa-googles-green-
energy-czar/
Retrived on June 10, 2010 from
MSNBC website, “Google Says ‘Here Comes the Sun’”, October 17, 2006
Simon Khin IT MGMT 550