Environmental Leader

In May, Google switched on its 1.6 megawatt solar power system at its Mountain View headquarters campus. But that was only the beginning. In order to reach its goal of creating 50 megawatts of renewable generating capacity for its operations by 2012, Google is looking into the use of various forms of renewable energy, including solar, wind, geothermal and fuel cells, Computerworld reports.

In June, the search giant announced plans to be carbon neutral by 2008.

Robyn Beavers, director of green business and operations strategy at Google, said that a recent project saw Google installing solar hot water modules that use the sun’s energy to heat the water in its new office in Hyderabad, India. The solar modules will cover all the hot water used in the entire office building.

Google is also in the process of doing an energy-efficiency overhaul, which includes performing energy audits at all of its office buildings.

Google has a site that tracks its energy initiatives.