SPECIAL FEATURES:
Email
Google quits plans to make cheap renewable energy
Google has abandoned an ambitious project to make renewable energy cheaper than coal, the latest target of Chief Executive Larry Page.
Tue, Nov 22 2011 at 7:33 PM
GOOGLE: The changes come as Google is facing stiff competition in mobile computing and social networking from Apple and Facebook, and as some investors have groused about rising spending at the world's No.1 Internet search company. (Photo: get directly do
SAN FRANCISCO - Google Inc. has abandoned an ambitious project to make renewable energy cheaper than coal, the latest target of Chief Executive Larry Page's moves to focus the Internet giant on fewer efforts.
Google said on Tuesday that it was pulling the plug on seven projects, including Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal as well as a Wikipedia-like online encyclopedia service known as Knol.
The plans, which Google announced on its corporate blog, represent the third so-called "spring cleaning" announcement that Google has made since Google co-founder Page took the reins in April.
The changes come as Google is facing stiff competition in mobile computing and social networking from Apple Inc and Facebook, and as some investors have groused about rising spending at the world's No.1 Internet search company.
"To recap, we're in the process of shutting down a number of products which haven't had the impact we'd hoped for, integrating others as features into our broader product efforts, and ending several which have shown us a different path forward," wrote Google Senior Vice President of Operations Urs Holzle in the blog post.
Google said that it believed other institutions were better positioned to take its renewable energy efforts "to the next level."
Google began making investments and doing research into technology to drive down the price of renewable energy in 2007, with a particular focus on solar power technology.
In 2009, the company's so-called Green Energy Czar, Bill Weihl, told Reuters that he expected to demonstrate within a few years working technology that could produce renewable energy at a cheaper price than coal.
"It is even odds, more or less," Weihl said at the time. "In three years, we could have multiple megawatts of plants out there."
A Google spokesman said that Weihl had left Google earlier this month.
Google noted in its blog post that it would continue efforts to generate "cleaner, more efficient energy," including procuring renewable energy for its data centers.
Among the other projects included in Tuesday's "spring cleaning" were Google Knol, Google Search Timeline, Google Gear, Google Friend Connect, Google Bookmarks Lists and Google Wave, an ill-fated social networking and communication service that Google had previously said it would cease developing.
Google said that in December its email and calendar applications will no longer work with Gears technology, which allows Google's software to work when not connected to the Internet. Google said it is working to create offline capabilities into HTML5 technology instead.
Google Friend Connect, which allows website publishers to add social features to their sites, will be retired in March for all non-Blogger websites, Google said. It suggested that websites use its Google+ social network instead.
Earlier this year, Google said it would "wind down" Google Labs, a website that offered public access to experimental Google products, as well as terminating products that let consumers monitor their home energy consumption and keep track of their personal health records.
Shares of Google, which finished Tuesday's regular trading session down 94 cents, were up 86 cents at $580.86 in after hours trading.
(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
Copyright 2011 Reuters US Online Report Technology News
You might also like:
Sign in with one of these accounts to add your comment.
EDITORS' PICKS
Advertisement
TODAY'S MOST POPULAR ON
- Student science experiment finds plants won't grow near Wi-Fi router
- 10 cats made famous by YouTube
- 10 false facts most people think are true
- 10 gorgeous U.S. waterfront campgrounds
- Food fraud: 10 counterfeit products we commonly consume
- Is there a risk in becoming a 'bagel head'?
- 9 habits that may do more harm than good
- Bras don't actually work, says French study
- The 9 nastiest things in your supermarket
- 15 famous people who mysteriously disappeared
From our sponsor
NEWSLETTER
Advertisement
We have all the supplies you need to have a renewable energy source also save money and keep your house warm and cozy. We sell wind turbines for commercial and private useage,We sell eco products,and power saving products so ckeck it out at our website today. If you need anything go to http://blueearthenergymall.com
Some of these changes don't bother me, but the end of Google Labs and the solar energy project, which seemed particularly exciting, are two that I am sorry to see go.