Google has been speaking about their commitment to be a cleaner, greener company since they announced their commitment to become a carbon neutral enterprise back in 2007. Now, they have made a new green energy deal that could help give wind power the boost that it needs not only to keep Google green but to help the US finally break its deadly fossil fuel addiction.
Google announced last week, that it has signed a 20 year deal with the alternative energy company NextEra Energy . The deal is being carried out by Google's energy division which was formed at the end of last year to allow the search giant to directly purchase energy from the wholesale market. They will purchase 114 megawatts of energy from NextEra Energy over the next 20 years. Google Energy will not use the wind energy directly but will instead sell it back to the main grid, increasing the amount of safe and clean energy on the market. The proceeds from that sale will then be used by Google to buy Renewable Energy Credits to help offset their own carbon footprint. They will begin purchasing from the wind farm on July 30th.
The energy that NextEra is providing to Google will come from a wind turbine farm in Iowa. This deal with Google will help to protect the future for wind energy and NextEra Energy and Google hope that it will give incentives to major energy buyers to buy from the renewable sources instead of more dangerous and polluting sources of energy such as coal and gas.
This wind energy deal is not the only investment that Google has made into the world of green energy. Other investments by the search mega giant has included an electric cars program known as RechargeIt and a multi-million dollar investment in geothermal technology which is aiming to harvest energy from deep beneath the earth's surface.
Of course, this move is not just about going green. With a long term deal in place now, Google has secured the energy it will need in the future even as demand for renewable energy increases and likewise, they have locked in a lower price now so if the energy costs rise over the next two decades, Google will still be paying the same low rate so the Next Era Energy deal is not only good for the environment but it is good for business as well.
