Google goes geothermal
A load of hot air
SEARCH ENGINE GIANT GOOGLE could be interested in going geothermal, according to Israeli newspaper reports.
Google is apparently in discussions with an Israeli firm called Ormat Technologies, which already has a geothermal plant set up in the Nevada desert in the USA.
Geothermal energy, which harnesses energy generated by heat under the Earth's surface, from the atmosphere and from oceans, is becoming an ever popular alternative energy source. It involves pumping water underground, leading to increased rock permeability, which therefore allows for the release of more heat.
Haaretz, an Israeli news daily, said both Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Google's co founders, had visited the Ormat Nevada site recently, prompting speculation that a deal between the companies was in the pipeline.
In the past, Google has said it would commit one per cent of all its profits
to charitable and environmental causes though its Google.org portal. The Search
behemoth has also made grand sweeping statements recently about investing
hundreds of millions of dollars in cleaner and renewable energy sources.
By acquiring or investing in Ormat's Geothermal technology, Google could well be
on its way to adding another capital G to the word 'green'. µ
Comments
Good & Limited.
In Time of GAS approaching $12/Gallon, soon enough, Thermal is High Cost Alternative that is sanctioned by law for developement. So Good, More Cost=More Developement & sales to Grid. It is Kind of Google to Contribute.However, Thermal energy dosn't Last Long before hole grows COLD. Few Decades at most & spuratic in output. Heat is nethier OLd Nor Faithful.
I'd Invest in mini Mills. As million Vacumne Tubes cost fortune to operate. even there Uranium is approaching $100 pound, yellow cake was 7 cent pound when Domers became Skyline thrill.
Slogan: "Heat & Serve".
drashek
When is a Monopoly Good - Google Green
So, interesting article and it got me thinking about GOOG and whether being a monopoly can be a benefit. GOOG from the very beginning has had the philosophy that if a technology doesn't exist or if it is not efficient, they would just go make something better. From the home-grown PC's they built their first server farms from to the custom page scanner they developed to scan in the library of congress to the ethernet switches they use to aggregate their servers. If a cheap, purpose-fit solution doesn't exist, count on GOOG to do it themselves. Take that a step further and now you have GOOG looking at nuclear power generation and geotherm as alternatives to having to purchase massive amounts of electricity to power and cool their massive server farms. Absolutely brilliant. Of course they are not doing this simply for the benefit of the environmentalists (please tell me no one really believes that...) but who cares? Its a win-win in the long run - GOOG reduces their electricity costs and pushes new technologies closer to the masses. So back to my original musings - by being a monopoly GOOG can use its huge cash flow to finance all sorts of useful inventions, without having to worry too much about the competition. Would the world be better off without them? or at least if there were a competitor that made them focus outward versus inward???It could be doing harm more than Good
I watched a TV program in the discovery cahnnel explaining about geothermal source for energy. One of the disadvantages is : It maybe promoting earthquakes and other unstabilites.Geothermal nice but limited
Drashek is right on this one - the average watts per square metre coming up through the Earth's crust is something like 100x less than the solar irradiation coming down. In other words, geothermal power won't be a sustainable energy source for the whole Earth's population (solar would only barely manage it once you factor in efficiency limitations, the fact 3/4 of the world is sea, clouds, etc.) But if you can get it, why not.