Google Funds Solar Solution on Abandoned Oil Field
Search giant Google is committing $US145 Million to its latest renewable energy project: a solar farm on an abandoned oil field in California’s Kern County.
Constructed by US solar company SunEdison, the solar plant brings Google’s renewable energy commitments to a total of 17 projects spanning three continents with a combined value of over $US1.5 Billion.
“Over the years, this particular site in California has gone from 30 oil wells to five as it was exhausted of profitable fossil fuel reserves,” Nick Coons explains through Google’s environmental blog.
Scanning 737 acres and utilising more than 248,000 solar modules the Regulus project will be SunEdison’s largest solar project in North America.
The Regulus solar plant is expected to produce enough electricity to power 10,000 homes and save the atmosphere from CO2 emissions from burning 125 million pounds of coal every year.
Solar Replaces Oil
The inherent symbolism of repopulating a depleted oil field with solar modules is tantalising. You’d be hard pressed to come up with a more succinct depiction of the twenty-first century energy landscape.
Between purchasing green energy and generating its own, Google has been able to source 35% of its electricity requirements through renewable means.
“We believe the world needs a wide range of clean energy technologies, each serving different needs,” writes Coons. “This project with SunEdison presented an opportunity to take an old gas and oil field and turn it into a clean energy producing solar site.”
Although Google is fiercely committed to reducing its carbon footpring, the announcement coincided with a report on the company’s carbon emissions. After five years of emissions reductions they reported an increase is carbon intensity over the previous twelve months, counter-balanced by investment in carbon off-sets to retain their “carbon neutral” status.
Clean Technica applauded the announcement, highlighting the importance of heavy-hitting entities like Google embracing solar power and counterbalancing anti-renewable campaigns from well-funded and highly inert special interest groups.
“Environmentalism isn’t just a fight between the little guys and big corporations any more,” writes Tina Casey, “[its] a slugfest between corporate giants and the stakes are high.”
