Whatever your feelings about giant Google, and we do acknowledge that seeing Google EVERYWHERE and involved in everything is sometimes a bit disturbing, the company’s fierce commitment to renewable energy is quite admirable.
Google’s stated goal: Making renewable energy cheaper than coal. The company is working towards accomplishing that goal through a mix of internal research and external investments in renewable energy companies.
Since 2007, Google has invested more than $45 million in this project. According to Bill Weihl, who’s in charge of the project, Google is viewing these efforts as charitable efforts rather than as long-term moneymaking initiatives.
We’re fairly confident, though, that Google’s green efforts are not just philanthropic – it looks as if the company is viewing these as long-term investments in something that will one day be HUGE. Weihl recently said in a NY Times interview, “I’ve seen many companies make the mistake of [focusing] everything on their core business, the stuff that’s relevant for the next two quarters or the next year… I think that it’s really important to invest for the long term and it’s important to invest some percentage for the world.”
We’re happy to see Google so heavily involved, and invested, in green energy. The company certainly has deep pockets, and – as Weihl points out – can offer something extra to the renewable energy field, namely innovation and willingness to take risks that other companies, with less resources, would not be able, or willing, to take.
Google’s ambitious goal, to make renewable energy cheaper than coal, is not as crazy as it might sound. The company’s huge success has taught its management that “a small team of smart people with basic technical expertise and the freedom to really innovate can do something quite remarkable… we wanted to see if that really could be true for alternative energies.”
We certainly hope so.
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Green read. It’s good to see big companies doing their share. Hopefully other companies will follow suit