LOS ANGELES: Internet search engine giant and leading technology company Google said on Tuesday that it was to invest $280 million to finance a number of home solar projects. It is the company's largest effort to date in order to promote clean energy. It isn't the first initiative for Google to help buttress environmentalism. In it's Dublin office, the cafeteria is vegan, which is the top way to reduce ones carbon footprint on a daily basis, researchers have reported. “It is nice to see that Google is looking to the future more and more these days,” said John Humphreys, a Los Angeles-based green activist who has worked with Greenpeace and other leading environmental protection agencies. “When companies like this start to get the PR going, it will help get others on board and really start this green revolution we have been waiting for,” he added. The funding for the solar project will go towards SolarCity, a company providing solar energy options for homeowners and businesses, including installations across the United States. “This is our largest clean energy project investment to date and brings our total invested in the clean energy sector to more than $680 million,” said Rick Needham, Google's director of green business operations. “We continue to look for other renewable energy investments that make business sense and help develop and deploy cleaner sources of energy,” he wrote in a blog post. He added that Google had also entered into a partnership with SolarCity to provide solar power to the homes of Google employees at a discount rate. “Starting at home is the most important way of getting our employees and our staff to work toward a comprehensive solution to the global climate problem,” a Google official told Bikya Masr on Tuesday. Google last month announced a $55 million investment in a California wind energy farm, and in April, the Mountain View, California-based company announced a $100 million investment in a wind farm being built in Oregon. Google in April also said it has invested $168 million to help complete the construction of one of the world's biggest solar power plants in California's Mojave Desert. BM
