Google has made big investments in renewable energy for years, with wind and solar projects across the globe. Although most chalked it up to the company's “Don’t Be Evil” corporate philosophy, Rick Needham, Google's director of energy and sustainability, explained this past week how it was the right decision economically, even more than morally.
Speaking at the Cleantech Group’s San Francisco forum, Needham described some of Google’s decisions and how they’ve improved the company’s bottom line and morale in several ways.
“While fossil-based prices are on a cost curve that goes up, renewable prices are on this march downward,” Needham said.
Needham spoke at Cleantech, as Forbes reported, on a number of factors that have made Google feel financially confident in its renewable investments, including increased production, capacity and efficiency in recent years.
Wind efficiency has jumped from 30 percent to 50 percent with recent innovations. Solar panels have dropped in price by 80 percent. Countries like Spain, Italy and Australia already have renewable energy that costs as much as formerly cheaper fossil fuels. Wind energy grew twice as fast as coal last year.
Needham offered all those reasons as explanations for projects like contracts for 260MW of wind energy to provide reliable power for the next 20 years. Google spent $1 billion on energy projects that will produce more than twice annually the amount the company consumed in 2011.
Needham also discussed transportation initiatives the company has started, including a corporate electric vehicle fleet supported by 240 chargers on campus, and a shuttle system that brings 4,500 Google employees to work everyday, with Wi-Fi, so they can work while they ride.
According to a site set up by Google to track its projects, the company has mostly invested in wind projects in Texas, Iowa, Oregon, California and off the eastern seaboard, with solar projects in Germany and California.
“At Google, a clean energy future means investing in innovative, large-scale energy projects we believe can become major power sources for the future,” Google’s website says. “To date, Google has committed over $1 billion to wind and solar projects that build a better future while also generating attractive financial returns.”
