Google's Goal: 100 Miles Per Gallon

Have you ever heard of google.com?  Well, it's this really cool web site that let's you find stuff online and ... alright, so you've heard of Google.  But have you ever heard of Google's philanthropic arm, google.org?

In the wake of the success that was Live Earth this weekend, it is worth noting that Google is at least one major US corporation that is not simply reacting to the challenge presented by global warming, but proactively pursuing solutions outside the scope of government intervention.  Along with improving global public health and fighting poverty around the world, google.org's area of focus is climate change.

Today, their main initiative to combat climate change is known as RechargeIT.  The program's goal is to reduce CO2 emissions, to reduce the use of oil, to increase the use of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and to increase the use of vehicle to grid (V2G) technology.  Why hybrids?

Transportation related greenhouse gas emissions are responsible for roughly one third of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States and at least 20% globally. In the US, over 60% of the transportation emissions result from gasoline consumption for personal vehicle use. We believe that plug-in hybrids capable of running on biofuels are the best near term option for significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector.

Google currently has a small fleet of Toyota and Ford hybrids retrofitted with plug-in technology. This small fleet is used to collect data to demonstrate the capabilities of the technology. This data is published for all to see.  The best performing car is already achieving over 79 miles per gallon.  RechargeIT's goal is to grow a corporate fleet of around 100 vehicles and to have them all achieve 70-100 mpg.

The killer benefit of plug-in hybrids returns us to the term, V2G.  V2G allows the car owner to charge their car battery during off-peak energy use times of the day and to actually return energy back to the grid (for profit) during peak times when the grid most needs it.

It's really a thrill to see Google taking the lead in pursuing alternative and renewable energies.  After all, when was the last time you saw Google come up short on anything?