Towards more renewable energy, posted to Google’s blog by Larry Page, Co-Founder and President of Products
Promising technologies already exist that could be developed to deliver renewable energy cheaper than coal. We think the time is ripe to build rapidly on the tremendous work on renewable energy. For example, I believe that solar thermal technology provides a very plausible path to generating cheaper electricity. By combining talented technologists, great partners and large investments, we have an opportunity to quickly push this technology forward. Our goal is to build 1 gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal. We are optimistic that this can be done within years, not decades. If we succeed, it would likely provide a path to replacing a substantial portion of the world’s electricity needs with renewable energy sources.
To lead this effort, we’re looking for a world-class team. We need creative and motivated entrepreneurs and technologists with expertise in a broad range of areas, including materials science, physics, chemistry, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, land acquisition and management, power transmission and substations, construction, and regulatory issues. Join us. And if you’re interested, read about our previous work toward a clean energy future.
Once again the engineers leading Google show a willingness to make decisions that are unconventional. Google has shown itself to be very effective at managing engineers with great success. This will be quite a challenge but it is great to see Google taking it on. I will be surprised if there are not numerous complaints about Google losing focus. And they might but a big part of Google’s success is a willingness to challenge conventional wisdom. It will be interesting to see how this develops.
Related: Google Investing Huge Sums in Renewable Energy and is Hiring – The Google Way: Give Engineers Room – Marissa Mayer on Innovation at Google