Google Reveals It Will Be 100% Powered By Renewable Energy In 2017

Google has announced that all of its data centers and offices will be powered by purchased renewable energy on 2017.

"We began purchasing renewable energy to reduce our carbon footprint and address climate change - but it also makes business sense.

I'm thrilled to announce that in 2017 Google will reach 100% renewable energy for our global operations - including both our data centers and offices," Urs Holzle, Google's Senior Vice President for Technical Infrastructure said in a statement.

Holzle said that Google has started purchasing all the electricity from a 114-megawatt wind farm in Iowa in 2010. And now, they have become the world's largest corporate buyer of renewable power.

Science Alert notes that it is impossible to build and directly connect a renewable energy source to its 13 data centers and offices in 150 cities worldwide, which is why the company resorted to purchasing energy instead.

Google did not say how much energy they need more to fulfill their 2017 target. But it said they will only buy energy from projects that are funded by their purchases.

Aside from the fact that renewables are environmental friendly, Google also emphasized that renewable are slowly being recognized as the lowest cost energy option.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Joe Kava, Google's senior vice president of technical infrastructure said wind supply prices do not fluctuate, enabling Google to plan better.

Google is not only the Silicon Valley giant who is racing towards renewable energy. Other companies like Apple and Facebook are also geared towards the same goal.

The Guardian noted that Apple is achieved 93% of their goal in 2015. And they are yet to set a year for when they would likely cross the finish line.

Arkansas Online said Google offices consume about 5.7 terawatt hours of electricity every year which is comparable to the electricity that the whole San Francisco consumes. Therefore, switching to clean energy would be a total game changer for the company.