Google Will Power All of Its Data Centers With Renewable Energy In 2017

Renewable energy is the next frontier for both consumers and enterprises all over the world. Some companies have a lot of capital that they can burn on renewable energy projects, which paves the way for consumer adoption in the long run. Google is looking to go all-in on 100% clean energy by 2017, which is quite a bold plan.

Google Plans To Ditch Traditional Energy

It is not the first time that Google has made some very bold claims, and the company usually backs up their plans quite effectively as well. Then again, going all-in on renewable energy as soon as next year sounds rather ambitious, even though it is not entirely impossible to achieve. The bigger question is whether or not these new energy sources scan guarantee a continued experience from the Google we know and love today.

To put this into perspective, Google requires an incredible amount of processing power to offer the services we use today. Google as a search engine, Youtube, and all of the other tools combined use a lot of power. All of these resources need to be fed with electricity in some capacity, requiring a major renewable energy effort to keep this company up and running.

But Google does not make bold claims without having at least some of its plan in motion already. Over the past few years, the tech giant has been investing in renewable energy. Most of their international data centers will be running on 100% renewable energy next year, which is quite an astonishing feat. Additionally, all of the tech giant’s global offices will make the switch to new energy sources as well.

It is important to note that these new energy sources go well beyond regular wind and solar energy that most people envision. Or to be more precise, the Company will not use these sources to directly power all of Google’s arms either. Instead, the tech giant has been purchasing equal amounts of renewable energy and electricity, which is quite a significant feat in its own right.

Google stated the following in their recent blog post:

“We signed our first agreement to purchase all the electricity from a 114-megawatt wind farm in Iowa, in 2010. Today, we are the world’s largest corporate buyer of renewable power, with commitments reaching 2.6 gigawatts (2,600 megawatts) of wind and solar energy. That’s bigger than many large utilities and more than twice as much as the 1.21 gigawatts it took to send Marty McFly back to the future.”

This change is a significant move by Google, but only a drop in the bucket of what needs to happen in the rest of the world. Renewable energy is the right way forward, but with President-elect Trump ignoring climate change, the battle will be quite long. Google is showing all other companies what they need to do, even if it takes them many more years to reach a similar goal.

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