Despite the fact that some people still believe that an energy crisis may not be worth taking seriously, Google isn’t waiting around for a definitive verdict and instead has thrown its considerable weight behind the development of renewable energy sources. With previous contributions toward the development of wind farms and solar power, they’ve made one more addition to their portfolio of clean energy technology investments. Today in a blog announcement, Google announced that it has funneled millions of dollars into the solar power industry in California. From their blog:

We’ve made a new $94 million investment in a portfolio of four solar photovoltaic (PV) projects being built by Recurrent Energy near Sacramento, California. This brings our portfolio of clean energy investments to more than $915 million. We’ve already committed to providing funding this year to help more than 10,000 homeowners install solar PV panels on their rooftops. But this investment represents our first investment in the U.S. in larger scale solar PV power plants that generate energy for the grid—instead of on individual rooftops. These projects have a total capacity of 88 MW, equivalent to the electricity consumed by more than 13,000 homes.

The announcement details the search engine giant’s partnership with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, a global investment firm, and Recurrent Energy, a developer of solar energy technology, in order to make the most of the investment so that “clean energy projects continue to attract new sources of capital to help the world move towards a more sustainable energy future.”

This latest green investment brings Google’s total contributions to clean energy projects to a cool $880 million. At this point, that figure is hard to even grasp. It reminds me of that scene in one of those Austin Powers movies when Dr. Evil demands a ransom of $1 trillion and the U.S. government laughs at him and his made-up number. At this point, it’s all Monopoly money. Worse, thinking about that staggering sum of money and how much that can do for the industry of renewable energy is awkwardly humbling when you consider that it might not even slow down the coming energy crisis.

Still, hats off to Google for taking the lead on this dire problem. Hopefully it will other inspire other major league tech companies to pick up the cause, as well.

Green Scrapbook works off of Zeitgeist, Google’s year-end feature that highlights the most popular search trends of the past twelve months, and the numerous popular searches tied to environmentalism. Within Green Scrapbook, users can find out information about the green topics that occupied people’s interests over the year and compile a virtual scrapbook of some of the subjects that catch their attention. Google provided a video that highlights some of the environmentally attached topics people searched for this year.

Basically, users can fill in a template containing seven general topics like “I never would’ve guessed that…” and “If I could save one animal, I’d save…” and then select subjects within those topics that will reveal some of the environmentally-themed searches from the past year.

By dragging one of the environmentally-related search topics to the center circle, you can reveal the answer to your environmental inquiry of choice. For example, you wanna know more about raising chickens in your backyard.

Once you compile your environmental interests into your scrapbook, you can learn more about those subjects by clicking on the link inside the info blurb to perform a Google search or, if you really must, subject this scrapbook to your friends who are really dying to know about your green leanings.

If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to have a greener year, this could be a great resource for getting started. If that Mayan calendar prediction of the world going to complete apocalyptic hell in 2012 turns out to be true, having a Green Scrapbook would also easily double as a handy survival guide. At any rate, more information can be found on Google’s announcement that was posted on their blog.

Since I arrived at Google in 2006, I’ve been part of a team working to create life-sustaining buildings that support the health and productivity of Googlers. We avoid materials that contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other known toxins that may harm human health, so Googlers don’t have to worry about the air they’re breathing or the toxicity of the furniture, carpet or other materials in their workspaces. We also use dual stage air filtration systems to eliminate particulates and remaining VOCs, which further improves indoor air quality.

Since building materials don’t have ingredient labels, we’re pushing the industry to adopt product transparency practices that will lead to real market transformation. In North America, we purchase materials free of the Living Building Challenge Red List Materials and EPA Chemicals of Concern, and through the Pharos Project we ask our suppliers to meet strict transparency requirements.

He goes on to discuss how Google strives to shrink its environmental footprint by trying to use the most efficient methods of heating, cooling, and lighting, as well as performing water audits and implementing conservation measures.

You might also recall that Google uses goats to mow its lawns (at least it has before). That’s pretty green.

As long as we’re on the subject of Google’s facilities, Googler Avinash Kaushik said on Google+, “By now I should not be surprised when I walk into a Google building. They are warm, welcoming and always have something fun. All around the world. But yesterday when I walked into building 46 in Mt. View I still stopped in my tracks when I saw the attached beautiful thing. It is huge, a gorgeous blue, surprising and the just so delightful. I walked all around and up and down and just smiled. Then went on to do some great work. I wonder if that counts as ROI.”

He then shared the following picture:

Over a three-year period, the grant will help NatureBridge serve more students and teachers with environmental education programs in more national parks and in the communities where they live.

With $4 million over a three-year period, NatureBridge will bring 10,000 additional K-12 students to its residential programs, develop community-based environmental education training programs, deliver hands-on training to 850 K-12 teachers, and find new ways to leverage technology for students and teachers in the field and at home.  

“We are grateful for the millions of Google users who helped us ring in a strong year, and we want to do our part to help charitable organizations that have inspired us with creative and effective programs,” said Michael Terrell, Google Policy Counsel for Energy and Environmental Programs.

“We are pleased to support the great work of NatureBridge with funding that will provide thousands of students with environmental education in the national parks.”

In 2010, the Google, Inc. Charitable Giving Fund of Tides Foundation gave over $145 million directly to non-profits and academic institutions. The grant to NatureBridge is part of Google’s end-of-year $20 million thank you to its business partners for their continued support.

The LEED certification program is a widely recognized system of encouraging sustainable building practices, and Gold is the second-highest certification level, falling only below Platinum.  It’s not at all easy to get.

A post on eBay’s Green Team Talks blog explained, "Topaz becomes one of only a small handful of data centers on U.S. soil to achieve LEED Gold – a pretty major accomplishment considering the availability and security requirements needed to run eBay AND PayPal’s servers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year."

Then the post described some of Topaz’s green features, which include "[t]he collection of rainwater to offset city water use," "[t]he ability to use low outside air temperatures to reduce electrical costs for cooling our servers," "[t]he use of low emitting materials throughout construction," "[t]he use of over 20% recycled and regional building materials in the facility construction," and "[t]he use of a chemical free water treatment system."

The Topaz data center is located outside Salt Lake City, Utah, by the way, and opened earlier this year.

A campaign to "get Facebook to unfriend coal" has been building momentum for some time, and it appears to have reached a critical mass of sorts today.  Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director of Greenpeace International, actually published an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg this morning.

In it, Naidoo stated, "Greenpeace and over half a million Facebook users have expressed significant concerns with your decision to power this data center with dirty coal-fired electricity from PacificCorp, which runs an electricity mix that is disproportionately powered by coal, the largest source of global warming pollution."

Naidoo would prefer it if Zuckerberg and Facebook would "[c]ommit to a plan to phase out the use of dirty coal-fired electricity to power your data centers" and "[u]se your purchasing power to choose locations that allow you to rely on only clean, renewable sources of electricity," instead.

These requests aren’t likely to have much effect in the short term; the Prineville data center is already under construction and Facebook hasn’t announced plans to build anything else.  Still, it’s possible Greenpeace and its supporters will influence the social network to be a little more Google-y in the future, turning to solar and wind power.

Also, in fairness to Facebook, the company’s already taken the issue of energy conservation into consideration to some degree.  On August 20th, a post on the Prineville Data Center page detailed several power-saving technologies that the facility will employ.

UPDATE: Barry Schnitt, director of policy communications at Facebook, left a comment further describing his company’s stance on environmental responsibility and energy conservation.

Hardnosed shareholders shouldn’t worry that the company’s throwing away its money on touchy-feely tree-hugging stuff.  This deal involves enough energy ("114 watts of wind generation") to power several of Google’s data centers, and by making the contract cover such a lengthy period of time, Google’s protected itself from rising energy costs.

Environmentalists can also support the arrangement, however, as there are definite upsides for the green movement.

Urs Hoelzle, Senior Vice President of Operations, explained on the Official Google Blog, "By contracting to purchase so much energy for so long, we’re giving the developer of the wind farm financial certainty to build additional clean energy projects.  The inability of renewable energy developers to obtain financing has been a significant inhibitor to the expansion of renewable energy."

The agreement should represent a win for just about everyone, then.  It even goes a way towards addressing concerns about the formation of Google Energy, since Google’s ability to buy and sell energy came into play here.

More deals could be on the way, too.  Hoelzle wrote (emphasis ours), "As we continue operating with the most energy efficient data centers and working to be carbon neutral, we’re happy to also be directly purchasing energy from renewable resources."

This test has apparently been in progress for a while in a rather isolated part of California (covering Plumas, Lassen and Sierra Counties), in fact, and Google, Spectrum Bridge, and the Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative feel everything’s going well.

An official statement explained, "The applications deployed for the Plumas-Sierra ‘Smart Grid’ wireless network trial deliver real-time broadband connectivity to remote substations and switchgear, allowing PSREC System Operators to manage the Electrical system remotely, request critical data from substations, manage power flow and protect the system and employees while maintaining the local grid."

What’s more, this has turned into an opportunity for Google’s PowerMeter to be deployed, and "[t]he wireless network is also providing broadband access to an underserved community."

Just about everyone (except potential competitors) appears to be benefiting, then, and not a single drawback’s been identified (the organizations even took care that this white space experiment wouldn’t interfere with the reception regular TV channels).

Despite sharing all this promising information, Google and Spectrum Bridge weren’t quite ready to say when similar experiments might be repeated in other areas, however.

With regards to the most serious reason for this move, Marc Rasic, Google’s executive chef, explained on the Official Google Blog that CCD is "a phenomenon in which worker bees abandon the hive for reasons that aren’t fully understood. . . .  This has grave implications for us all as bees are responsible for pollinating approximately 70 percent of the fruit and vegetables we eat.  The loss of bees has serious consequences for plants, wildlife and human survival.  (You can read more here.)"

As for the more whimsical aspects of the development, Rasic wrote, "The four hives – collectively known as the Hiveplex, of course – are each painted in one of Google’s colors. . . .  Many Googlers have signed up to contribute to beekeeping and honey extraction efforts, and, come the harvest in the fall, we’ll round the season off with a series of cooking classes and candle-making sessions for all those who have signed up to help."

This may not be the last non-Googlers hear about the bees, either, since Rasic (non-jokingly) indicated that Google might create a Buzz account for them.

Anyone care to guess what’s coming next?  A real-life petting zoo doesn’t seem far off.

Though Foursquare does not yet have the wide market penetration that Facebook and Twitter enjoy, the hope is that through its embrace of location-based services, Earthjustice can connect a younger audience to its work, whether it’s curbing oil and gas exploration in the Arctic or protecting endangered species like the pikas of the Sierra Nevada.

At the same time, Foursquare users on BART will get their shot at becoming the “mayor” of Earthjustice ads and help protect the environment, all while doing their daily commute. Aside from the donation aspect, the check-ins also encourage users to learn more about Earthjustice through other Foursquare features, such as tips or “shout outs.” You can follow them on Twitter here of “like” their Facebook page here. I just did.

To amplify the campaign even further, I would recommend the following:

1. Aggregate all check ins and tweets somewhere on their web site
2. Recognize and showcase each mayor (i.e. on their web site or fan page)
3. Create a mechanism that integrates with the campaign and allow users to make contributions easily
4. Tweetup / fund-raising event

Heck, I may even take Bart a few times when this launches to show my support. Hopefully you will too!

Comments