That’s what this New York Times article surmises. While Microsoft continues to be slow on the uptake, just now launching Azure, its “me-too” cloud computing OS, Google is looking beyond the cloud to focus on the energy that powers it. And eventually, it could make a business go of it.
The Times article offers several bits of evidence:
1. Google’s own enormous power usage has forced it to find new efficient ways to operate (like futuristic floating data centers).
2. Google.org’s RE
3. Google and GE’s recent partnership to collaborate on technologies aimed at improving the electricity grid. Efforts that fall into this category include Google’s push for plug-in hybrid cars (which would require a more reliable grid that would let car owners plug in their vehicles anywhere and be billed appropriately), as well as smart electric meters, which would let ratepayers throttle consumption based on cost and other parameters (like in this example).
Google CEO Eric Schmidt says Google is focusing on lobbying and public awareness, and he’s playing down the eventual business opportunities. Plus, Google itself puts renewable energy pretty far down the research list, in the basket of long-term strategic projects for which it earmarks just 10% of its resources (vs. 70% in search and advertising). Still, Dan Reicher, Google.org’s director for climate change and energy initiatives, claims Google is in energy for the profit motive: “We want to make money, and we want to have an impact,” he says in the article.
Contrast that with Microsoft’s Azure initiative. It’s a classic case of a company on the rise vs. a company on the decline. While Microsoft was late to the party and is just now looking to hedge its bets in the cloud, Google is three or four steps ahead, envisioning an environment where all the Microsofts of the world operate in the cloud–and energy is the profit leverage that makes or breaks the company of the future.
