DragonI

Google Will Achieve 100 Percent Renewable Energy in 2017

The web services leader crosses the finish line ahead of most of its peers.

www.greentechmedia.com

For Google, that meant serious work at the data centers to cut down on the electricity needed to run all those searches and YouTube clips. Those data centers now deliver 3.5 times as much computing power as they did five years ago, while using the same amount of electricity, the company said.

Google's parent company Alphabet also leveraged in-house expertise from DeepMind, its machine-learning subsidiary, to reduce energy needs. By training the computers to optimize operational factors like fans and cooling systems, DeepMind was able to cut the energy use for cooling data centers by 40 percent, yielding a 15 percent drop in overall energy overhead.

"[If] you can cover the roof of a data center with solar PV panels, maybe you cover 5 percent of the electricity needs," Touati said. "If you want to reach your...100 percent renewable target, the only option you have today is to actually source electricity from offsite projects."

That's what Google did, to the tune of 2.6 gigawatts worldwide. In some locations where renewable purchase options didn't exist, the company worked with the local utilities to create them. That process helped produce Duke Energy's Green Source Rider, which enabled Google to purchase power for its North Carolina data center from a 61-megawatt solar project. Now other companies can buy through that program as well.

Elon Musk wants to sell people solar roofs that look great. Here's his much anticipated design

After hinting for weeks about a groundbreaking design to lure more customers to solar energy, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk on Friday showcased a line of high-design roof tiles that generate power from the sun without the clunky panels sold by most companies.

www.latimes.com|Los Angeles Times

“It needs to be beautiful, affordable, and seamlessly integrated. If all of those things are true, why would you go any other direction?”, Elon Musk

Using a special coating, the tiles appearance changes based on the viewing angle. The coating basically becomes transparent when seen directly but from the angle of the street, it looks like an average slate shingle or terra cotta style and it essentially camouflages the underlying solar cells. Musk said that they are working with 3M on the coating.

The presentation also highlighted the fact that the tiles are hydrographically printed, making each one a “special snowflake.” This will allow two houses side-by-side to have the same style without a cookie cutter sameness pervading the neighborhood.

Musk said the company would roll out the solar shingles by summer, starting in California, the largest U.S. solar market.

assets.inhabitat.com

With Old Man Winter knocking at the door, households around the world are bracing for the inevitable spike in energy bills – but making your home more energy efficient could dramatically cut down on your heating costs. To help get you started, Heiton Buckley created an infographic that could help you save over a thousand dollars with over a dozen easy ways to conserve energy. Click through to see how leaks in your home are costing you money – and for a few recommended starter projects that could save big on your energy and heating bills.