How green is Google?

Google has enabled a virtual world where anyone with an internet connection is seconds away from information. The company has become an icon for how the world wide web has permeated everyday lives around the globe. But how green is the company behind the colorful user interface?

Google is the undisputed leading search engine providing about 75% of external links to websites. Early revenues were nearly doubling annually and the company just reported third quarter 2007 revenues of $4.23 billion, a 57% rise over last year.

Green Deeds

Google has turned some of their profit towards sustainability. Last year, Earth Times reported that the search engine giant was looking to install over 9,200 solar photovoltaic panels on its newly acquired Silicon Valley headquarters “Googleplex”.

The cost of the project wasn’t revealed but Earth Times estimated that Google could expect a return on the investment within 5-10 years. When complete, Google’s HQ will be “one of the largest solar powered corporate office complexes in the U.S.” but the installation is only expected to generate about 30% of the power required for the administrative complex. It doesn’t include global data centers or any of the other 50+ Google offices that spread across at least five other continents. TreeHugger estimates the C02 emissions reduction from the project is projected to be 3.6 million pounds/year (equivalent to 4.28 million car miles/year).

Google backs a green computer plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the IT industry along with Intel, Hewlett Packard, Dell, Microsoft and competitor Yahoo. The BBC reported that “The initiative is an extension of the World Wildlife Fund’s Climate Savers program, which helps companies to reduce their harmful greenhouse gas emissions…The scheme is expected to cut emissions by 54 million tonnes a year – equal to 11 million cars or 20 coal-fired power plants, company officials say.”

Then there’s the Google Foundation headed by Larry Brilliant and armed with $1,000,000,000 plus one percent of the equity and 1 percent of the profits earmarked for charitable giving for global public heath, global poverty and the climate crisis.

Search Google

While Google promotes its efforts to cut its greenhouse gas emissions the company, which has over 10,000 employees, won’t disclose its carbon footprint. The aversion to making greenhouse gas emissions public is tied to the search engine industry’s competitiveness. The company feels that Google’s carbon numbers could be dissected by the competition and reveal trade secrets like how many servers and data centers the search engine uses to keep it spot at the top of the internet.

It’s actually a valid strategy but in today’s business atmosphere where disclosing carbon footprints is part of staying competitive, Google would do more for its public relations to at least confirm that a qualified independent party is involved with carbon inventory – like the Carbon Disclosure Project.

Otherwise, Google appears to be using the trade secret card to avoid a truly sustainable business strategy. For example, a mention in For the Super-Rich, It’s Time to Upgrade the Old Jumbo Jet didn’t exactly clarify Google’s carbon footprint in the company’s favor:

big, long-haul airliners that are converted to private jets and can carry not only pampered passengers and their entourages, but also, in some cases, their Rolls Royces and racehorses. These are specially equipped, privately owned jumbo jets — the kind that normally carry as many 300 to 400 passengers — but reconfigured with interiors designed for the enjoyment of, at most, a couple of dozen…among them Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the co-founders of Google, who bought a used 767 last year and spent millions converting it into a private jet.

You’re young, rich and just want to reward yourself. We understand. However, a little cross country jaunt to check on the solar installation burns about 7,000 gallons of jet fuel. Kind of a mixed message on environmental values and again doesn’t do much to clarify Google’s sustainability goals.

But it’s Google. The company that has refueled the environmental movement with just two little words “search Google.” Not to mention that they are still a very young company but have surpassed many better established firms with their sustainable initiatives. Technically, Google could still be called a start-up as it continually reinvests in its infrastructure to keep the clicks coming.

The truth is, for many of us, Google is more than just a company, it’s a part of our day. Strange to say out loud but hard to deny if your livelihood depends in any way on the internet. Google hasn’t mastered transparency when it comes to its overall green business strategy so the truth is, as of today, we just don’t know how sustainability plays into the company’s long term plans.

At present, we can just watch and wait for the day when the pressure to reveal its carbon footprint is too great for even the world’s largest search engine. Perhaps the numbers will be a pleasant surprise.

In the meantime, Google’s place as a leader in the industry is a position that warrants responsibility with influence over other companies. Google has managed to secure its spot at the top of the World Wide Web, now it’s time to secure its place in an ever-greening business world. Whether it can manage both is something only time will tell.