Can a company that built its reputation on software tools and computer server farms parlay that expertise into a clean energy revolution? Google believes that it can. The company plans to spend tens of millions of dollars on both renewable energy research and development and related investments in 2008, with the goal of making renewable energy less expensive than coal power. That goal is embodied in the name of the new initiative, “RE
REwill be part of Google’s commercial enterprise, but it will also work with Google’s philanthropic arm, Google.org. Google.org is currently teamed up with two companies that could have potential for RE type of aerial wind turbine. See the Google press release, the Google Clean Energy Web page, and the Web sites for eSolar and Makani Power.
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