Google Data » Parag Chokshi

Stanford’s Single-Well EGS Investigation

Parag Chokshi — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 19:55:00 +0000

Next week Stanford University will host the 36th annual Stanford Geothermal Workshop, one of the world’s foremost geothermal technical gatherings.

Stanford’s Geothermal Laboratory, led by Professor Roland Horne, has been investigating novel single-well approaches to Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), sponsored by a research grant from Google’s RE.

Currently, for every well that sends cold water down to the hot rock (called injectors), there are one to three wells that bring heated water back up to generate electricity (called producers). But what if one well could act as both an injector and producer? It could dramatically lower the cost of EGS (example below).
The Stanford team, which included graduate students Zhe Wang and Mark McClure, modeled a variety of single-well configurations to determine their feasibility. The investigation determined that on a per well basis, an optimal single-well EGS system would produce four times more energy than an isolated pair of wells and two times more energy than an infinite series of alternating producers and injectors.

Single-well systems, when combined with advances in reservoir engineering, present another innovative technique for advancing baseload EGS on the path to RE.

Posted by Charles Baron, Geothermal Program Lead, Google.org

Going Green at Google in 2010

Parag Chokshi — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 21:20:00 +0000

Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog

At Google, we’re committed to building a clean energy future because we we want to be good environmental stewards, and because we think it makes business sense. We’ve had a busy year with our clean energy initiatives. Take look at our redesigned green website and this new video from the Google green team to learn more about the priorities we’re pursuing:

As we look back on 2010, we wanted to highlight what we’ve been working on this year to help build a more sustainable future—for Google, and the world.

Greening our operations. We already have the most energy efficient data centers in the world, and use renewable energy whenever possible. This year we created a subsidiary, Google Energy LLC, to enable us to purchase renewable energy on the wholesale power markets and to help spur development in the sector.
- Flexibility in buying renewable energy. In February, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted Google Energy LLC the authority to buy and sell energy on the wholesale market, giving us the flexibility to procure renewable energy at competitive prices.
- 20-year green power purchase. Our FERC authority enabled Google Energy LLC to enter a 20-year green Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) in July to buy clean energy from 114 megawatts (MW) of wind generation at NextEra’s Story County II facility in Iowa (read more about how the deal is structured). By purchasing so much energy for so long, we’re giving the developer financial certainty to build additional clean energy projects.
Developing green products and tools. Just a few weeks ago, during the the U.N. Climate Change Conference in sunny Cancun, Mexico, we launched Google Earth Engine, a new Google Labs product. Google Earth Engine is a technology platform that makes an unprecedented catalog of imagery and data available online in one place for the first time. It enables global-scale monitoring and measurement of changes in the earth’s environment. We’re particularly excited about the initial use of Google Earth Engine to support efforts to stop global deforestation. We’ve also been busy this year incorporating green features into our products—like Google Maps biking directions and adding Carbon Disclosure Project ratings into Google Finance.

Investing in a clean energy future. To date, Google has invested over $100 million in clean energy. Google.org has already invested in several clean technology companies. We’ve also continued our internal R&D on renewable energy technologies (RE), substantially growing our engineering team. And this year, Google began making project investments that offer a solid financial return, and could have a transformational impact on the renewable energy sector.
- North Dakota wind farms. In May, we invested $38.8 million in two North Dakota wind farms that generate 169.5MW, enough to power 55,000 homes. It was our first project investment, and uses some of the latest wind turbine technology and control systems to provide one of the lowest-cost sources of renewable energy to the local grid.
- Offshore wind transmission. In October, we made a development stage investment in a project to build a backbone transmission line off the Mid-Atlantic coast. The project will put in place strong, secure transmission, removing a major barrier to scaling up offshore wind. When finished, the 350-mile line will connect up to 6,000MW of offshore wind energy—enough to serve approximately 1.9 million households!

It’s been a busy year at Google, and we believe the world needs better options in the future. As we head into the new year, we look forward to continuing our work to find and support innovative clean energy solutions.

Posted by Bill Weihl, Green Energy Czar

Take Action with Google PowerMeter’s new personalized recommendations

Parag Chokshi — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 22:25:00 +0000

Google PowerMeter now offers personalized energy savings recommendations to help you save more energy and show off your savings. You can find it under “Take action” in your Google PowerMeter page.

Over time, the feature will provide even more useful tips. As your energy consumption behavior changes, you will receive new recommendations to help you save even more.

In addition to receiving customized energy saving recommendations, you’ll earn a special badge when you complete a recommendation. Collecting badges is a fun way of keeping track of your accomplishments to reduce energy waste and save money. And you might even strike up some friendly competition among family and friends to see who can collect the most badges the fastest!

We’ve also made it easier to see how much energy you’re using with a new display feature on the Google PowerMeter chart. Now, when you move your cursor over the chart, you’ll see a pop-up that shows the amount of power used at that moment in time.

Stay tuned as we continue to develop new features for Google PowerMeter.

Posted by Ryan Falor, Product Manager, Google PowerMeter

Our Support for AB32 and a Clean Energy Future in California

Parag Chokshi — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 18:55:00 +0000

We believe in taking responsibility for our carbon emissions and promoting sustainable environmental solutions. Today, we hosted an event with the Silicon Valley Leadership Group: Electric Bills & Oil Spills: Will California Continue to be a Clean Energy Leader? The discussion focused on AB32, California’s landmark legislation to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions, and the future of the clean energy economy here in California and across the country.

California has led the nation in putting in place the right energy policies to foster growth in the clean energy economy. Google has been an early and strong supporter of AB32, legislation that creates jobs and spurs the development of clean energy technologies. In fact, last year, California's policies attracted 60 percent of all cleantech investment capital in North America -- $2.1 billion. From 1995 to 2008, California has seen a 45 percent increase in green businesses, and a 36 percent expansion in green jobs. That’s why we joined Californians for Clean Energy and Jobs, a coalition of businesses, NGOs, and labor organizations that support AB32.

Indeed, we believe our work in clean energy is good for business. We made the decision to become carbon neutral in 2007. We are minimizing our energy consumption with some of the most energy efficient data centers in the world, lowering our energy costs. And we are purchasing carbon offsets for the emissions we can’t eliminate. We also seek to power our facilities with renewable energy, like one of the largest corporate solar installations at our headquarters in Mountain View, CA. And we’re making investments in renewable energy, such as our $38.8 million investment in two North Dakota wind farms, and our recent agreement to purchase 114MW of wind energy over a 20 year period, spurring real growth in the sector by giving the developer financial certainty to develop new projects.

As a technology company, we’ve seen how the power of innovation can change the way we live our lives. Eric Schmidt said it best: “In Silicon Valley, it was the limitations of one technology or system that served as the drivers of change and led to the success of our industries here. AB32 provides a similar opportunity for new job creation in many sectors as business responds to the need for energy-efficient buildings, transportation and a growing portfolio of renewable energy resources.”

We’re committed to finding the right solutions to a clean energy future and we hope California’s policies continue to lead the way.

Posted by Bill Weihl, Green Energy Czar