Green Blog
A better web. Better for the environment.
Carbon neutrality by end of 2007
6/19/07
Posted by Posted by Urs Hoelzle, Senior Vice President, Operations
Climate change continues to be one of the biggest, most challenging problems our planet faces, and we know that a sustained global effort is needed if we're going to have any hope of reversing its effects. In that spirit, today we're announcing that Google will become carbon neutral by the end of 2007. This is an important step in our long-term pursuit of holistic environmental solutions.
Our plan to neutralize Google's carbon footprint includes three basic strategies:
- reduce energy consumption by maximizing efficiency;
- invest in and use renewable energy sources; and
- purchase carbon offsets for the emissions that we can't reduce directly.
To calculate our carbon footprint, we took into account emissions from purchased electricity, employee commuting, business travel, construction, and server manufacturing. In a partnership with the
Environmental Resources Trust
(ERT), we have independently verified this assessment, and will do so every year.
In order to meet our short-term goal of carbon neutrality, we have decided to purchase some carbon offsets. To be clear, we see carbon offsets not as a permanent solution but rather as a temporary tool which allows us to take full responsibility for our impact right away. By investing in projects elsewhere in the world that cut the overall amount of greenhouse gases, we can help reduce climate impact now while we develop more sustainable strategies for the future. When considering an offset project, we carefully examine the project's environmental integrity, its ability to be monitored and verified, and the impact that our investment will have in furthering that project's goals. In other words, we want to make sure that our offset funding directly enables the project, and that the carbon savings of the project are real.
As you may have read, Google already has several other environmental programs and initiatives in place. Last week
we announced
the
Climate Savers Computing
initiative to greatly improve computing energy-efficiency standards. (Make sure your next computer purchase is a compliant PC!) Transportation is another major area of focus. Our employee shuttle system provides a commute for more than 1,500 Googlers daily around the San Francisco Bay area, and several hundred more have also taken advantage of our rebate when they bought a fuel-efficient vehicle.
We're equally committed to finding and developing new green technologies and sources of energy. We
just completed
our solar panel installation in Mountain View, the single-largest corporate solar installation in the U.S. to date. We've also joined the World Resources Institute's
Green Power Market Development Group
, so we can work with other companies to make more green power available to everyone. And of course
Google.org
is working on creative new initiatives, including
plug-in hybrid cars
. In addition, we've set ourselves the ambitious goal of creating 50 megawatts of new renewable generation capacity--enough to power 50,000 typical U.S. homes--by 2012.
Still, we're only one company, so aside from improving our own practices, we want to do more to raise awareness and commitment worldwide. We feel we can best do this through our products and services, which reach millions of people every day. For example,
Google Transit
makes it easier than ever to find and use public transportation around the globe. New custom tabs on iGoogle bring climate news,
energy-related talks on video
from our @Google series and other environment-related content to your homepage. Google Maps users have created mashups to show
possible coastal flooding
if the sea level changes, or to map
climate data for cities
worldwide. And we're urging lawmakers to create clear public policies on important issues like energy-efficiency standards, increased funding for public research and development of energy technologies, and regulation of greenhouse gas emissions.
To learn more, visit our
new site on energy initiatives
, which details much of this work to date.
A clean energy update
6/18/07
Posted by Dan Reicher, Director, Climate and Energy Initiatives, Google.org
Today
Google.org
is launching an exciting project that offers a glimpse of a smarter energy future: cars that plug into an electric grid powered by solar energy. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (“plug-in hybrids”) can achieve 70 -100 miles per gallon, quadrupling the fuel economy of the average car on the road today (~20 mpg). As we demonstrated at today’s event, plug-in hybrids can sell power back to the electric grid when it's needed most through vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology
As you may know, one of Google.org's core missions is to address climate change. In the U.S., transportation contributes about one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions –- with more than 60 percent of those emissions coming from personal vehicles. By accelerating the adoption of plug-in hybrids and vehicle-to-grid ("V2G") technologies, this new project,
RechargeIT.org
, aims to reduce emissions and dependence on oil while promoting clean energy technologies and increasing consumer choice. Linking the U.S. transportation system to the electricity grid maximizes the efficiency of our energy system. From these efforts, we believe the environment will benefit -- and consumers will have more choices to fuel their cars.
We've been working with Google engineers and
Hymotion
/
A123Systems
to build a small fleet of plug-in hybrids, adding an external plug and additional batteries to a regular hybrid car so that it runs on electricity with gasoline (or even better, biofuels) to extend the driving range for longer trips. Here's what it looks like:
Since most Americans drive less than 35 miles per day, you easily could drive mostly on electricity with the gas tank as a "safety net." Our goal is to demonstrate the plug-in hybrid and V2G technology, get people excited about having their own plug-in hybrid, and encourage car companies to start building them soon.
In the preliminary results from our test fleet, on average the plug-in hybrid gas mileage was 30+ mpg higher than that of the regular hybrids. In conjunction with Pacific Gas and Electric, we also demonstrated the bidirectional flow of electricity through V2G technology, and have awarded $1 million in grants and announced plans for a $10 million request for proposals (RFP) to fund development, adoption and commercialization of plug-ins, fully electric cars and related vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology. (Here's the
full release
.)
As for Google Inc., today the
solar panel installation
we announced last October is now producing clean, renewable electricity for our Mountain View, CA headquarters.
The system will offset peak electricity consumption at the solar powered offices and the newly constructed solar carports have charging stations for the plug-in hybrids. At 1.6 megawatts -- with an electricity output capable of powering approximately 1,000 average California homes -- the Google project is the largest solar installation on any corporate campus in the U.S. to date, and one of the largest on any corporate site in the world. To see how much electricity these panels are producing right now, visit our new
performance monitoring site
.
To learn more about the initiative, we encourage you to explore the rest of
RechargeIT.org
. And to see what others are saying about plug-in hybrids and V2G technology, be sure to watch
this video
.
Climate Savers Computing Initiative
6/12/07
Posted by Bill Weihl, Green Energy Czar
Last fall we talked about
our work on efficient power supplies
in the capable hands of Ben Jai, Ken Krieger and the rest of our power supply team. Since then, we've become involved in several projects focused on environmental stewardship. Today, for example, together with Intel, Dell, EDS, the EPA, HP, IBM, Lenovo, Microsoft, the World Wildlife Fund, and more than 20 other companies, we
announced
the
Climate Savers Computing Initiative
. After working on this initiative over the last few months, we're delighted to join with so many organizations to form this new group. In particular this project should speak to every business with computers.
Believe it or not, a typical desktop PC wastes over half the power delivered to it — and, when turned on, most desktops waste power — even when they're not in use. Through some very simple measures, there is an opportunity to save 70-80% of the power currently consumed by desktop computers. With a more efficient power supply, more efficient DC-to-DC converters, and power-management features turned on, that same desktop PC would save as much as 80% of the energy currently consumed! That energy savings means dollars, of course; it also prevents emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants.
This initiative is one example of ways we as a company can work to reduce our environmental impact. A few others we've undertaken:
- our fuel-efficient vehicle incentive project
- our corporate shuttle program for commuting to work
- organic, locally-sourced food in our café
-
our corporate solar panel installation
There are always more measures to take, of course. Through
Google.org
, for example, we are exploring innovative technologies that promise to reduce our collective impact on the environment. And as with Climate Savers, we hope to set an example as well as use the convening power of Google to further more environmental initiatives.
All of these sorts of programs, and more, are what's needed. As ecologist
Rachel Carson
put it, "Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species — man — acquired significant power to alter the nature of his world." Let's work together now to alter things for the good of the planet.
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