MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Mountain View, Calif.-based Google announced a new initiative to develop electricity from renewable energy sources.
Google said in a news release that the new electricity will be cheaper than coal-fired power. REC, the new initiative, will focus on advancing solar, geothermal and wind power technologies.
REC is hiring engineers and energy experts to do research and development. In 2008 Google expects to spend tens of millions of dollars on research and development. The company also plans on investing hundreds of millions of dollars in renewable energy projects.
"We have gained expertise in designing and building large-scale, energy-intensive facilities by building efficient data centers," said Larry Page, Google co-founder and president of products. "We want to apply the same creativity and innovation to the challenge of generating renewable electricity at globally significant scale, and produce it cheaper than from coal."
