WebProWorld
Is there anything that Google doesn’t do? Seriously. Today the company has announced the first partners for its PowerMeter Tool.
Essentially, the PowerMeter (available as a Google gadget) shows consumers how much electricity they are using right from their computer. The idea is of course that when you can see how much electricity you are using on an appliance-by-appliance basis, you can make the necessary adjustments to reduce the amount of energy you are using/wasting. This clip has more:
Times Online ran an article citing several studies about Internet use and the consumption of energy. Information used for this report suggested that Google searches are responsible for a large amount of CO2 emissions. The article reads:
Google is looking to put more focus on the energy industry in hopes of creating a business opportunity.
Green is the new black; math is the new cool; and Google CEO Eric Schmidt has some formulas for increasing energy efficiency, job creation, money saving, and how the Internet will fend off global warming. Sound far-fetched? Schmidt says, “It’s just a math problem.”
File this one under U for "Uh, Wow, Okay." Before you do that, here’s a summary of a Washington Post editorial entitled "If Everyone’s Talking, Who Will Listen?":
Google could have promoted energy conservation by lighting up gigantic "save electricity" billboards. Instead, in at least one country, the search giant has taken the equally unproductive path of turning its homepage black.
Google is exploring the use of a variety of forms of renewable energy in an effort to reach its goal of creating 50 megawatts of renewable generating capacity for its operations by 2012.
About three months ago, Ask joined a tree-planting program created by Dell to offset carbon emissions. Those trees are presumably doing just fine. The bigger piece of news relates to energy-efficient servers the two companies discussed, and those are also on track.
When it comes to saving money, small amounts matter – spending a mere five bucks on lunch, five days a week, amounts to $1,300 per year. In terms of saving energy, the same idea applies, and so Blackle – a dark version of Google – was born.
A West Coast pilot program is giving brains to household appliances by enabling them to connect to the Internet and gather information about real time energy costs and make decisions about the best times to kick on or power down.
