For the first time in company history Google has unveiled its carbon footprint to the public. Google’s carbon footprint clocks in at 1.5 m tonnes of carbon annually. This is slightly more than the entire country of Laos produces in a year. However, this number is not as drastic as it initially may seem. In 2007 Google set out to go carbon neutral and is holding true to that promise. Their first goal is to be as efficient as possible in their operation practices. Google has worked tirelessly to engineer new and better ways to provide their services. Google says that when companies use their cloud services, e.g., using Gmail instead of having independent servers for their own business email, there is significantly less of a carbon footprint. Their second goal is to run as many operations as possible off of renewable energy. Google purchases renewable energy from across the country to power their operations. Google offsets its remaining carbon footprint by buying carbon offsets. One example of a carbon offset is converting methane collected from landfills into CO2. While this may sound counter intuitive it is actually productive for overall Green House Gas emissions. Methane contains 20% to 25% more harmful then CO2, so while it is this process does not totally negate Green House Gas emissions it significantly reduces them. Overall I believe that Google is setting a great example for how to successfully operate a green business.
Link to Google Carbon Offsets Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znw7t9aqrf4&feature=player_embedded
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