Why Google's Future Growth is in Energy. Google (NASDAQ: GOOG ) has been trying to get into the energy business for years. In 2007, it set a goal of making renewable energy cheaper than coal, and as part of the campaign it invested venture funds in renewable energy start-ups and bought renewable energy projects. But Google's efforts to revolutionize energy have been largely unsuccessful. It bet on solar concentrator technology, which used mirrors to angle the sun's rays toward a power tower that ran a turbine to produce electricity. But that technology has proven more expensive than conventional solar panels and is virtually dead in the marketplace. Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System is part owned by Google and has been an operational disappointment since it opened in 2014. That wasn't the end of Google's story in energy, though. Google Nest could be the future of home automation.
Where this gets interesting is with something called demand response in Nest's Rush Hour Rewards program. Why Google Invests in Clean Energy. Last year, Google invested more than $915 million in clean energy projects -- solar, wind and transmission. That's a lot of money, even for Google, which had $38 billion in revenues in 2011. The investments don't appear to be core to the company's mission of organizing information, and they have attracted criticism, as well as some careless reporting, implying that the Internet giant is exiting the alternative energy business.
Does Google have an energy policy? Does it need one? To find out, I recently went to see Rick Needham, Google's director of green business operations, at the company's fabled headquarters (well, fabled for a 13-year-old company, anyway) in Mountain View, CA. I came away not merely persuaded that Google's energy investments make sense, but thinking that other companies that consume lots of electricity and have a pile of cash on their balance sheets -- Apple, Microsoft and GE come to mind -- should consider deploying some of their cash in the clean energy sector.
Google’s Latest Investments Show That the Future of Energy is Green – Greener Ideal. Regulus Solar Plant By Jennifer Moore | Google’s Latest Investments Show That the Future of Energy is Green Google is investing billions of dollars into clean energy projects, and for good reason; because the investment is supported by the data.
“Basically,” says Rick Needham, Director of the Energy and Sustainability program at Google, “fossil fuel prices are going up, while renewable energy prices are going downward.” Even with the lower cost of fuels due to fracking, the trends are continually pointing towards the use of more renewable energy. Besides, Google also believes that renewable energy will go hand-in-hand with the development of new technology products and their mass manufacturing; this includes efficient turbines, solar panels, and many other natural resources. Google Started In-House but Is Expanding Outward To make things a bit greener, the custom-built coaches run on a type of biodiesel fuel.
Some of the Projects Google is Investing in Are: In the End… Is Google becoming an energy company? Google's $3.2 billion acquisition of smart home startup Nest was the search-engine giant's most visible foray into the energy space, but it was far from the first. Google has invested over $1 billion in renewable power plants over years and appears poised to be a major player in the energy sector for years to come. Let's take a closer look at Google's strategy and whether it is, in fact, becoming an energy company: A brief history of Google, an energy company With its power-sucking data centers, Google is one of the world's single largest energy consumers.
In 2011, the company consumed 2.7 million megawatt-hours of electricity—roughly the equivalent consumption of Austin, Texas. While this may be why Google started to invest in energy—as a means to offset its use—the company has since broadened its scope. Here's an interactive timeline of the company's energy investments. Here's the lowdown: Google has invested over $1 billion in over 2 GW of wind and solar power plants.
Renewable Energy – Google Green. Welcome to Forbes.