At the Corporate ECOforum, Google CEO Eric Schmidt gave a talk that looks well worth hearing. Schmidt began his talk with a Google Earth heavy discussion "of rising temperatures and government policies that are either speeding up or slowing down climate change."
There's a total failure of political leadership, at least in the United States, if not in the world.
His plan deals with three interrelated challenges: over-reliance on oil; sluggish world economy; and global warming.
His $2.7 trillion plan would provide real benefits:
That $2.7 trillion "cost" doesn't point to the very real and very strong benefits, such as that much in energy savings (generated power) and huge numbers of jobs created.
Google.org is investing heavily in these realms, with a very interesting portfolio (such as its efforts to produce renewable energy for a cost less than coal) of multiple paths, including high-altitude wind and concentrated solar power.
As part of that mix, Google is intrigued with the potential that "Drill! Drill! Drill!" might be a core part of the answer to the globe's energy challenges. No, they're not caught up in Drillusion. But, yes, Google is looking to drilling: "While the U.S. debates drilling in the ocean for oil, we are focused on drilling for renewable energy - and lots of it - right beneath our feet." Google is getting excited about the potential payoff for drilling deep for "Enhanced Geothermal Systems" (EGS). They have invested $10 million (along with others) in several companies working on making geothermal electrical power generation possible virtually anywhere in the globe. In short, EGS
expands the potential of traditional geothermal energy by orders of magnitude. The traditional geothermal approach relies on finding naturally occurring pockets of steam or hot water. The EGS process, by comparison, replicates these conditions by fracturing hot rock, circulating water through the system, and using the resulting steam to produce electricity in a conventional turbine.EGS has the potential to provide clean renewable electricity 24/7, at a cost cheaper than coal. The ability to produce electricity from geothermal energy has been thought exclusive to locations such as California and Iceland. However EGS could allow us to harness the heat within the earth almost anywhere.
Will it work? Perhaps not, perhaps yes. But if it does ... and at a price less than what it costs to produce electricity from coal (even without pricing carbon), this is a game changer.
And, "Green" is a core part of Google's business future. As Schmidt says,
This is the largest opportunity that I could possibly imagine.
A business planner, in our system, looks to increase the total business by an order of magnitude (ten times) a decade out. Consider Google's size today. How could Google increase by ten times? Perhaps by being a core provider of electricity, clean electricity, to the globe and standing in the center of the electronic controlling of a Smart(er) Grid.
Google is one of the strongest large business examples of a company intent on making a Green impact, of seeking to help the globe, but standing in a good position to make a significant amount of green while doing so.
If you wish to watch the speech and presentation, put aside 46 minutes and 46 seconds.
NOTE: Here is a useful 36 minute Tom Friedman interview with Google leadership about Climate Change.
Further Reading:
