Google, Advertising, New Media And Energy
For the last few years, our organization has been exploring how an information technologies company fits together with an energy company.
With the demise of traditional publishing (i.e. newspapers and broadcast television), has come the rise of new media marketing. Though the cost to produce each ad has plummeted, the cost to store and distribute each ad has soared. For instance, the cost to produce a newspaper ad might be over ten thousand dollars; however, the cost to produce a similar Internet ad might be under a thousand dollars. On the other hand, the cost to store and distribute a newspaper ad is insignificant while the cost to store and distribute the Internet ad is substantial.
One of the largest costs associated with Internet advertising is energy. Data centers, servers, off-site backups and other related new media services are extremely energy intensive. By 2006, it was estimated that “Google is the largest consumer of electricity in the world.” Though Google does not disclose what they believe their environmental impact to be, there is no doubt that alternatives to traditional energy sources would be very desirable.
Niki Fenwick of Google said, “Right now, we can’t buy affordable, utility-scale, renewable energy in our markets. We want to buy the highest quality, most affordable renewable energy wherever we can and use the green credits.”
“We don’t have any concrete plans. We want the ability to buy and sell electricity in case it becomes part of our portfolio.”
It is almost as if Google has been reading our playbook:
MyEnergyTech.com
Data Center Resources
Sustainable Energy