Google targets to be become a greener search engine

The world’s most popular and widely used search engine company has just formed in December of last year an auxiliary company, called Google Energy, that promises to buy and sell green energy on the wholesale market.

Sticking to its company motto, ‘Don’t be evil’, Google is planning of producing its own clean energy to power its operations, rather than purchasing from electricity retailers, and offering electricity to end consumers.

As of 2007, Google has about 60 data centres worldwide that house more than 500,000 servers. A 2007 estimates revealed that Google had a carbon footprint of at least 3 million tonnes per annum.

Google representative Niki Fenwick said that the company can no longer acquire clean renewable energy cheaply on the market. She added that the firm aims to procure the highest quality of clean electricity wherever possible and utilize the green credits.

Google’s recent green move is the world’s first taken by a search engine giant. Currently, the company is operating what is believed to be the world’s most efficient data centres. Located in Mountain View, California, Google owns a 1.6 megawatt of solar system that produces 30 per cent of the electricity required to power the building.

Google had lately also commenced its RE<C program, a project aimed to create utility-scale renewable power that is cheaper compared to coal. Within few years time, the firm targets to produce one gigawatt of capacity from renewables, which is enough to power a city that has a size comparable to San Francisco.