Green Blog
A better web. Better for the environment.
Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain
4/21/11
Rodgers and Hammerstein
weren’t kidding when they wrote what is now Oklahoma’s
official state song
. The gusts on the plains are fierce, which makes the Sooner State a great place to harness clean, renewable wind energy. Our commitment to greening our energy supply is also strong, which is why we’ve just signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for wind energy—our second in less than a year—in Oklahoma.
The purchase is similar in size and structure to the agreement we signed last July for
wind energy in Iowa
, but this time we will be applying the power to our Mayes County, Okla. data center, which will be fully operational later this year. We’ve agreed to purchase all of the energy from NextEra Energy Resources’ Minco II wind facility in Oklahoma for the next 20 years, through Google Energy LLC, an entity that enables us to participate in the wholesale energy market. This 100.8 megawatt facility will be built as a direct result of our financial commitment and should be operational in late 2011.
We’ve
made the commitment
to be a carbon neutral company, and this purchase is part of our effort to minimize our impact on the environment. We’ve managed to reduce our energy consumption by over 50 percent by building
highly energy-efficient facilities
, but we know that efficiency alone isn’t enough to eliminate our carbon footprint. We’ve been exploring ways, such as this PPA, to reduce emissions further by increasing the amount of renewable energy we use to power our operations; we purchase
high-quality carbon offsets
for any remaining emissions.
If you’re interested in learning more about the whys and wherefores of our renewable energy purchases, we’ve just published a
white paper
(PDF) on the topic. Our hope is that by laying out our reasoning and methods we’ll make it easier for others in the industry to explore similar arrangements.
These purchases represent long-term, meaningful actions to reduce our carbon footprint and power our operations with clean electricity. Our infrastructure team will continue to seek similar opportunities globally as Google’s businesses continue to grow. As a company we hope that purchases like these, plus the additional $350 million we’ve invested in
renewable
energy
projects
, support the market and drive down the cost of clean energy. This will enable even more companies to invest in sustainable energy solutions.
Posted by Gary Demasi, Global Infrastructure team
Shepherding the wind
4/18/11
We recently invested approximately $100 million in the Shepherds Flat Wind Farm, anticipated to be the largest wind farm in the world. Shepherds Flat is currently under construction near windy Arlington, Ore., and when completed in 2012 will produce 845 MW of energy. That’s a lot of wind—enough to power more than 235,000 homes.
This project is exciting to us not only because of its size and scale, but also because it uses advanced technology. This will be the first commercial wind farm in the U.S. to deploy, at scale, turbines that use permanent magnet generators—tech-speak for evolutionary turbine technology that will improve efficiency, reliability and grid connection capabilities. Though the technology has been installed outside the U.S., it’s an important, incremental step in lowering the cost of wind energy over the long term in the U.S.
Shepherds Flat will help Oregon continue to be one of the top wind producing states in the nation, while providing significant direct economic benefits to the state. The project will also benefit the region by helping California meet its aggressive renewable energy goals with a cost-effective and clean wind resource. The electricity produced at Shepherds Flat will be sold under long term agreements to Southern California Edison.
The Shepherds Flat Wind Farm under construction with me in the center and my colleagues Arielle Bertman and Matthew Stepka.
We look forward to joining a project with strong experienced partners such as the developer,
Caithness Energy
, and
GE
, which is an early investor in Shepherds Flat as well as the turbine manufacturer and operations and maintenance supplier. Our co-investors are
Sumitomo Corporation of America
, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation, and
Tyr Energy
, a subsidiary of ITOCHU Corporation, both of which have deep experience in power projects.
This project brings our total invested in clean energy to more than $350 million, including our most recent investments in a
German solar photovoltaic plant
and in the
BrightSource Ivanpah solar power tower
—the largest solar energy project in the world. We’re excited about helping deliver clean energy to the grid and we hope this latest investment encourages other companies to think about ways they can help accelerate the deployment of more renewable energy. We remain on the lookout for more projects that make business sense and will help all of us take advantage of clean, renewable energy.
Posted by Rick Needham, Director of Green Business Operations
Investing in the world’s largest solar power tower plant
4/11/11
We’ve invested $168 million in an exciting new solar energy power plant being developed by
BrightSource Energy
in the Mojave Desert in California. Brightsource’s
Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System
(ISEGS) will generate 392 gross MW of clean, solar energy. That’s the equivalent of taking more than 90,000 cars off the road over the lifetime of the plant, projected to be more than 25 years. The investment makes business sense and will help ensure that one of the world’s largest solar energy projects is completed.
We need smart capital to transform our energy sector and build a clean energy future. This is our largest investment to date, and we’ve now invested over $250 million in the clean energy sector. We’re excited about Ivanpah because our investment will help deploy a compelling solar energy technology that provides reliable clean energy, with the potential to significantly reduce costs on future projects.
Power towers, which have
been successfully demonstrated
in the U.S. and abroad at smaller scale, are based on a relatively simple idea. The technology works by using a field of mirrors, called
heliostats
, to concentrate the sun’s rays onto a solar receiver on top of a tower. The solar receiver generates steam, which then spins a traditional turbine and generator to make electricity. Power towers are very efficient because all those mirrors focus a tremendous amount of solar energy onto a small area to produce steam at high pressure and temperature (up to 1000 degrees F). Think about burning a tuft of grass with a magnifying glass, only multiplied by thousands (or the original application:
Archimedes
’ heat ray that allegedly used mirrors to burn enemy ships!).
Brightsource Energy’s Solar Energy Development Center in Israel’s Negev desert
Several large solar projects are in the works in the sunny Southwest (and around the globe), but Ivanpah will be the first solar power tower system of this scale. The Ivanpah Power Tower will be approximately 450 feet tall and will use 173,000 heliostats, each with two mirrors. The project is being constructed by Bechtel, a major engineering firm. Construction began
in October 2010
, and is projected to finish in 2013.
The Ivanpah project will also be financed by NRG and with clean energy technology loan guarantees provided by the U.S. Department of Energy. We hope that investing in Ivanpah spurs continued development and deployment of this promising technology while encouraging other companies to make similar investments in renewable energy.
Posted by Rick Needham, Director of Green Business Operations
Google to invest in German solar power plant
4/7/11
Today, we agreed to make our first clean energy project investment in Europe - a €3.5 million (ca. $ 5 million) investment in a solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant in Germany. The transaction still requires the formal approval of the German competition authorities and is subject to other customary closing conditions.
The recently completed facility is located on 47 hectares (116 acres) in Brandenburg an der Havel, near Berlin. The power plant has a peak capacity of 18.65MWp, which puts it among the largest in Germany.
Google is always looking for new ways to encourage development and deployment of renewable energy across the world. This facility will provide clean energy to more than 5,000 households in the area surrounding Brandenburg. Until the early 90’s, the site was used as a training ground by the Russian military. We’re glad it has found a new use!
We agreed to jointly invest in this project with the German private equity company
Capital Stage
, which brings strong experience in the German photovoltaic and renewable energy market. Germany has a strong framework for renewable energy and is home to many leading-edge technology companies in the sector. More than 70% of the solar modules installed in Brandenburg are provided by German manufacturers.
After investing in
clean energy projects
in the U.S., we’re excited about making our first investment outside of the U.S. in Germany, a country that has long been a global leader in clean energy development.
Posted by Benjamin Kott, Clean Energy Advocacy Manager, Google
Find electric vehicle charging stations on Google Maps
3/9/11
(Cross-posted from the
Google Lat Long blog
)
At Google, we’ve been supporting environmentally-friendly cars through initiatives such as
RechargeIT
, an effort to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles. As consumers embrace electric vehicles, we’ve also been adding information to Google Maps over the past few months to help users find charging stations. Just search on Google Maps for “ev charging station” plus the appropriate area, for example, “ev charging station near mountain view ca.”
We’d like to continue adding more charging stations to Google Maps, so we’re excited that our friends over at the the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are working to make more data available.
NREL has launched the
GeoEVSE Forum
to help develop a detailed, accurate database of electric vehicle charging stations. We’ll be adding more EV charging locations to Google Maps as their database, and others, are updated. As always, you can use the
Report a problem
tool to inform us of any corrections.
If you represent an automaker, an electric vehicle charging station manufacturer or installer, an EV consumer group or any other interested party, you can join the GeoEVSE Forum by visiting
this site
.
We look forward to adding even more information to Google Maps to help you recharge your electric vehicle. Happy green driving!
Posted by Cynthia Yeung, Strategic Partner Development Team
Unleashing energy innovation
3/8/11
The Internet, digital music, smart phones - these are just some of the innovations that have changed the way we live and work. Yet the way we use energy - whether it’s powering our cars or our homes and businesses - hasn’t changed in decades. Our economy needs a cleaner, more efficient way of delivering energy while giving people better tools and information to manage their energy use.
The good news is there’s widespread agreement that transforming the energy sector is a big opportunity to create jobs, foster innovation and grow new industries. At Google, we’ve been working to transform our own energy use. We’ve made our data centers the
most efficient in the world
, built a
fleet of electric cars
,
invested in renewable energy
, and developed online tools like
Google PowerMeter
.
Of course, government policy plays an important role in driving change towards a cleaner economy and it’s important to get the rules right. There’s a real debate happening now in Washington about how to solve the nation’s energy challenges. We don’t have all the answers, but here are a few important areas that policymakers should consider:
Drive investments in energy infrastructure and technology.
With the right mix of policies, vast amounts of private capital can be leveraged to develop the next generation of energy infrastructure. That means a smarter, more efficient power grid and more renewable power generation, whether it’s utility-scale or on rooftops. The government should provide clear market signals through measures such as energy efficiency and clean energy standards. And we should deploy a variety of incentives to help take new technologies to full commercial scale.
Stimulate R&D to find the next technological breakthroughs.
We should support research and development that can lead to the next energy breakthroughs, including innovative programs like the
Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy
(ARPA-E), which has spurred four dollars in
private sector investment
for every taxpayer dollar spent.
Remove barriers to innovation and empower energy consumers.
Regulatory and market barriers have created huge inefficiencies in the way homes and businesses use energy. Consumers still lack basic information and tools for better managing their energy use. Utility regulation must be brought into the 21st century to promote investments in efficiency and renewables and reductions in
peak energy demand
. That includes enacting policies that give consumers access to and control over
their own energy information
.
We’ll be engaging on these issues over the next few months. In the meantime, we invite you to post comments and join the conversation!
Posted by Michael Terrell, Energy Policy Counsel
Making sense of science: introducing the Google Science Communication Fellows
2/15/11
(Cross-posted on the
Official Google Blog
)
In an effort to foster a more open, transparent and accessible scientific dialogue, we’ve started a new effort aimed at inspiring pioneering use of technology, new media and computational thinking in the communication of science to diverse audiences. Initially, we’ll focus on communicating the science on climate change.
We’re kicking off this effort by naming 21 Google Science Communication Fellows. These fellows were elected from a pool of applicants of early to mid-career Ph.D. scientists nominated by leaders in climate change research and science-based institutions across the U.S. It was hard to choose just 21 fellows from such an impressive pool of scientists; ultimately, we chose scientists who had the strongest potential to become excellent communicators. That meant previous training in science communication; research in topics related to understanding or managing climate change; and experience experimenting with innovative approaches or technology tools for science communication. This year’s fellows are an impressive bunch:
Brendan Bohannan, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and Biology, University of Oregon
Edward Brook, Professor, Department of Geosciences, Oregon State University
Julia Cole, Professor, Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona
Eugene Cordero, Associate Professor, Meteorology and Climate Science, San Jose University
Frank Davis, Professor, Landscape Ecology & Conservation Planning, University of California-Santa Barbara
Andrew Dessler, Professor, Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University
Noah Diffenbaugh, Assistant Professor, Environmental Earth System Science, Stanford University
Simon Donner, Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia
Nicole Heller, Research Scientist, Climate Central
Brian Helmuth, Professor, Biological Sciences, University South Carolina
Paul Higgins, Associate Director, Policy Program, American Meteorological Society
Jonathan Koomey, Consulting Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University
David Lea, Professor, Earth Science, University of California-Santa Barbara
Kelly Levin, Senior Research Associate, World Resources Institute
David Lobell, Assistant Professor, Environmental Earth System Science, Stanford University
Edwin Maurer, Associate Professor, Civil Engineering, Santa Clara University
Susanne Moser, Research Associate, Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California-Santa Cruz
Matthew Nisbet, Associate Professor, School of Communication, American University
Rebecca Shaw, Director of Conservation, The Nature Conservancy, CA Chapter
Whendee Silver, Professor, Ecosystem Ecology and Biogeochemistry, University of California-Berkeley
Alan Townsend, Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado
At our Mountain View, Calif. headquarters in June, the fellows will participate in a workshop, which will integrate hands-on training and facilitated brainstorming on topics of technology and science communication. Following the workshop, fellows will be given the opportunity to apply for grants to put their ideas into practice. Those with the most impactful projects will be given the opportunity to join a
Lindblad Expeditions & National Geographic
trip to the Arctic, the Galapagos or Antarctica as a science communicator.
Congratulations to all of the fellows! And we’ll keep you posted on more ideas and tools emerging for science communication.
Posted by Dr. Amy Luers, Google.org and Tina Ornduff, Google Education
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