Google Invests $55 Million In Kern County Wind Farm

Congratulations to Google on their continued investments in the right direction.

From the article:

May 24, 2011 | 1:34 pm

Google must really like its new renewable energy hat, because the company has plunked down an additional $55 million on a major wind project.

The Internet search giant said it is partnering with Citibank, with each shelling out $55 million to help finance part of the Alta Wind Energy Center, one of the largest wind installations in the world.

and the article ends with:

With the investment, Google said it has pumped more than $400 million into clean energy projects, including an offshore wind transmission project on the East Coast and a wind farm in Oregon. The company has also plunged $168 million into BrightSource’s Ivanpah solar installation.

Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com...

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Hmm tornadoes supply alot of wind....

Hmm, interesting...
with earlier research that I've found the windmill farms, don't make as much energy as though to.

Windmills making up today’s “wind farms” are often huge (Some 300+ ft. The Legislative Building in Olympia is 287 feet). However, they produce very little electricity. For example:

1. Kittitas Valley Wind Project. Zilkha Renewable Energy of Houston, TX plans to build a large “wind farm” near Ellensberg, WA. Key facts about the project include the following: ·
Zilkha would “…install 100 to 150 wind turbines over 10,000 acres…” with total rated capacity up to 250 megawatts (MW) or 250,000 kilowatts (kW). ·

If the rated capacity of the proposed “wind farm” reached 250,000 kW and produces electricity at its full “rated” capacity for 24 hours per day all year long, it would produce 2,190,000,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity annually (i.e., 250,000 kW x 8760 hours). ·

However, wind turbines produce electricity only when the wind is blowing within a certain speed range. If the turbines produced electricity at a 34% capacity factor, the total annual output of the “wind farm” would be 744,600,000 kWh (i.e., 2,190,000,000 x .34).

That may sound like a lot of electricity. However, it’s equivalent to only 64/100 of 1% of the 117,135,248,000 kWh of electricity generated in Washington during 1999.
Source

Other plans for them, instead of energy...maybe.

reply to post by ancientmustytext


Kern county, California. Just west of Mojave and east of Bakersfield. There's already a pretty large wind farm in the area that's been there for about 30 years now.

Tehachapi Pass Wind Farm

reply to post by manta78


Well of course they are! Think about this for a moment. Google are a global company. They have offices all over the place, and many places they have premises, unlike the US are either seriously considering , or have already implemented carbon initiatives, which make carbon based electricity supplies less lucrative to use, because they get charge a percentage per mg of carbon emissions estimated to have been produced in order to cover thier demand.

It would make sense therefore, for Google, which has offices all over the world, to invest in clean energy. It may be that in some of the nations in which they operate, they may well gain a benifit or a small reduction in cost if they can be shown to actively involve themselves in the clean energy market.

As investments go, in a world where carbon taxing is becoming quite prevalent, this seems a sensible one for a company who literaly could not operate without electricity. It will save them an awful lot over the long term, to buy thier energy from renewable sources. For a company that was valued at $163.2 BILLION dollars, a piddling sum like fifty five million, which may end up saving them money... Its a no brainer. The real question is why wouldnt they invest in this ??