Google

The tech giant has eliminated its entire carbon legacy and is moving toward running entirely on renewables, 24/7. More importantly, it’s looking to create pathways for other renewable purchasers to follow in its wake.

David Riester of Lacuna Sustainable Investments, looks at how, on the journey from concept to monetized power plant, renewables and energy storage projects tend to get tugged toward ‘zero’ margin, from either direction. The further the rubber band is stretched, the stronger the pull back toward zero.

As the sector continues to grow rapidly, delays in manufacturing scale-ups, difficulties sourcing raw materials and a separate path taken by the electric vehicle sector could all chuck ‘sand in the gears’, according to analyst Wood Mackenzie.

Corporations contracted a record amount of wind and solar energy through power purchase agreements in 2019, up more than 40% from the previous year’s record, says a new report from BloombergNEF. The bulk of this purchasing occurred in the U.S. with tech companies and oil and gas majors leading the charge.

The energy transition is becoming ever more apparent among power companies, as was evident at the European Utility Week event last week in Paris, which showcased the hopes and fears of energy companies. Rebranding next year to ‘Enlit’, the organizers aim to reach the whole energy industry.

The telecommunications company opened a large data center near the Turkish capital. Turkcell said it wants to improve data security by storing more information on Turkish soil.

Google pre-qualified bidders and used reverse auctions to obtain the lowest price for renewable energy. Reverse auctions for corporate purchases could potentially benefit solar developers, if their transparency and simplicity can influence more corporations to procure green power.

Prime minister Su Tseng-chang announced the ambition and said the new solar plan for 2019-20 will bring investment and business opportunities of around US$7.5 billion.

The new deals worth $2 billion in new investments were made by the Internet giant in in the U.S., Chile and Europe.

Researchers have built a tool to use cheap satellite imagery – like Google Maps – to automatically create solar designs with a 91% accuracy rate.