Google seems to be on a mission to make the world a greener place. The company has announced a massive $2 billion deal to purchase and develop new renewable energy generation. Alongside this effort, Google is launching a new grant program to provide assistance to businesses to use renewable energy.
The acquisition is made up of 18 energy agreements spread across the globe that result in an aggregate 1,600 megawatts of energy. A healthy portion of which is coming from brand new renewable energy assets made possible through long-term power purchase agreements funded by Google.
“Once all these projects come online, our carbon-free energy portfolio will produce more electricity than places like Washington D.C. or entire countries like Lithuania or Uruguay use each year,” CEO Sundar Pichai said in a statement.
“Together, these deals will increase our worldwide portfolio of wind and solar agreements by more than 40 percent, to 5,500 megawatts – equivalent to the capacity of a million solar rooftops.”
The assets are spread around the globe, with approximately half located in Europe, including projects in Finland, Sweden, Belgium and Denmark. The remainder are located in Chile, North Carolina, and Texas. The purchase will more than double the capacity of Google’s global solar assets.
Google also announced two new grants totaling $1 million from the company’s philanthropic branch Google.org, which will help companies fund the development of new sustainable purchasing models, training and resources for consumers.
The effort comes alongside growing pressure from employees to focus on sustainability. Employees from tech giants including Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are taking part in a “Global #ClimateStrike”, with planned walkouts protesting a lack of action on climate change from their companies.
Amazon announced similar plans to Google, committing to achieve 100 percent renewable energy in its portfolio by 2030 and net-zero carbon by 2040.
Tags: #ClimateStrike, Google, Sundar Pichai, Sustainability