Google aims to make renewables cheaper than coal

Google has unveiled an ambitious plan to fund renewable energies and find breakthrough technologies that will make them cheaper to use than coal, one of the principal contributors to global warming (through its use for energy generation).
As David Adam, our environment correspondent, notes:
Google will focus initially on solar thermal power, wind power, geothermal systems and other “potential breakthrough” technologies. It wants to find cheaper, less polluting ways to supply its own demand for energy, as well as accelerate the replacement of fossil fuels for worldwide electricity generation.

Google plans to put hundreds of millions of its carbon repositories – sorry, dollars – into the projects.

Google already uses a fair bit of hydroelectric power at its new data centre in Pryor, Oklahoma (whose choice was shrouded in secrecy)). So it’s a bit green. But in line with Dell’s “Plant a Tree For Me” scheme (even if it has had limp takeup – must chase up those numbers), it shows that the IT industry is starting to take notice, as anyone must amidst the double whammy of rising energy prices and increasing concern about global warming’s short- and long-term effects, of how it’s sourcing and using energy. It might only be the start, but it’s a good road to head down.

Guardian