Google Inc’s energy unit has entered into a deal to buy wind power from NextEra Energy Inc for the next 20 years to power data centers.
The deal comes less than three months after the giant Silicon Valley Internet search company invested $38.8 million in two wind farms in North Dakota, developed by NextEra Energy Resources, that generate enough energy to power more than 55,000 homes.
Google Energy LLC will begin buying wind power from July 30 from NextEra’s facility in Iowa at a predetermined rate, Urs Hoelzle, Google’s senior vice president of operations, said in a blog on Google’s website.
“Incorporating such a large amount of wind power into our portfolio is tricky, but this power is enough to supply several data centers,” Hoelzle added.
The .CO landrush has come to an end and it has been a spectacular event. In just a few hours, the .CO registry will open to the public for general availability registrations.
There have been over 40,000 pre-registrations during the landrush period and a lot of media coverage both within and outside the domain industry.
General Availability
Update: The registry is now public! Remaining .CO domains will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. GoDaddy has .CO for $29.99 per year.
CoInternet is now reporting over 215,000 registrations so far.
Thousands more domains will be claimed during the general availability today and in the coming days, weeks and months.
Combining todays’ expected registrations and premium domains awarded for landrush applications should easily total several million dollars in estimated value.
.Co Founders Program – Many businesses and individuals awarded free .co domains under contract to actively develop for at least 2 years. You will begin seeing many launch announcements on .co domains soon.
3 Things I Like About .CO
It rides on the coat tails of .COM in representing commerce and companies.
Registry operator CoInternet is doing a phenomenal job marketing the launch and will likely continue to do so.
Early adoption by big players such as Twitter
3 Things I’m Concerned About
Will people have a problem recognizing a .CO domain when spoken verbally? We are so used to hearing .COM
Over speculation within the industry may cause public outcry against domaining and tarnish .CO similarly to .US
Owners will fool themselves into believing their keyword .CO domain is worth just as much as it’s .COM counterpart.
What do you think of .CO? Please leave your comments below or send me a message on Twitter @DotSauce.
Want to know more about the domain industry or how to get started buying and selling? Ask a question on the all new DotSauce Q&A forum.
This one-day conference focuses on the impact of innovation in components, such as windows, lighting, and walls, as well as the latest energy usage visibility and control technologies. We’ll reveal insider information on the shifting competitive landscape and financing dynamics in the market.
If your company is looking to do business in this sector, don’t miss this event. Register now.
Attendees of Cleantech Focus Chicago get:
1) A packed agenda
2) Insights from expert speakers from the worlds of energy efficiency, regulation and finance
3) Keynote from Andrew DeGuire, Vice President, Strategy & Acquisitions at Johnson Controls
4) Case-studies from innovative smart building vendors and commercial builders that show you how these new technologies are being used to great effect
5) A complimentary copy of the Cleantech Group’s Executive Brief “As energy efficiency booms, buildings get a brain” – normally available only to research subscribers
6) The latest market research and analysis from the Cleantech Group
7) A preview of the latest technologies and services in the Cleantech Innovation Showcase
8) Networking with the industry’s most influential energy efficiency leaders at the Welcome Reception and throughout the event
If a new “smart” metal could help cool your home or refrigerate your food 175 percent more efficiently than current technology, imagine what that would do for your electric bills.
Researchers at the University of Maryland are developing a new “thermally elastic” metal alloy for use in advanced refrigeration and air conditioning systems. The technology promises far greater efficiency and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
The Maryland team will soon begin testing of a prototype system, with economic stimulus funding from the U.S. Department of Energy. The new grant is part of a program designed to bring “game-changing” technologies to market.
“Air conditioning represents the largest share of home electric bills in the summer, so this new technology could have significant consumer impact, as well as an important environmental benefit,” says Eric Wachsman, director of the University of Maryland Energy Research Center (UMERC).
“The approach is expected to increase cooling efficiency 175 percent, reduce U.S. carbon dioxide emissions by 250 million metric tons per year, and replace liquid refrigerants that can cause environmental degradation in their own right,” Wachsman adds.
I’ve just finished scanning a list of the most populated U.S. cities and was surprised to see that many of them are still available to pre-register at GoDaddy.
While GoDaddy cannot guarantee that you will receive the domain name, you can pre-register now to be first in line during the July 20 general availability date.
If your order is not secured you will receive a full refund.
Owning any of these popular U.S. city domains would be an excellent opportunity to develop a memorable local website business.
Google has just acquired what looks to be a revolutionary content aggregator for web developers. Metaweb defines it’s service as a hub for web developers and bloggers to “plug in” to great content.
Metaweb has built a smarter, more connected internet by classifying all persons, places and things under a unique ID they call an entity.
This video introduction does a good job explaining the concept and how Metaweb could bring great content to site owners.
I learned of all this at the Official Google blog today and am a little troubled by the tone of the announcement. I have lots of questions.
Will this optimistic outlook of Metaweb as a service to web developers change as they merge into Google?
Will these cool widgets ever see the light of your monitor?
Google has been increasingly adding content alongside search results in recent years. They have already taken over the traffic and attention of numerous industries and niches such as travel arrangements, business listings, definitions, product comparison and even the news.
Now Google hopes to enable a smarter search where people can go beyond text.
Looking for a college? You may search like this in the near future…
[colleges on the west coast with tuition under $30,000]
What’s going on in San Jose tonight?
[events in San Jose]
There is far reaching opportunity for Google to use Metaweb to provide great answers without a user ever leaving their domain. This is what worries me. How much content will they take for themselves and will websites suffer for it with dwindling traffic numbers?
Metaweb’s data is hosted on a separately branded community site called Freebase. I tried to sign up, but registrations are currently closed.
Google does mention that Freebase (all that data from Metaweb) will remain open to the public. So, you should definitely check it out and support the cause. There is also a wiki for Freebase developer tools.
A free and open database for the world’s knowledge sounds like a phenomenal resource for business and web development. I can imagine countless new applications connected to this data and the social web.
Update: The following video is an astounding Freebase search project called Parallax. It is a new way to explore data and integrate it simultaneously from multiple Metaweb data sources.
While I’m still playing the conspiracy theorist (it’s all this UFO buzz), I believe Freebase may cut into web traffic of some individuals and businesses. Google started something similar with Knol a few years ago; I’m not sure how well it’s doing now.
Popular destinations like WikiPedia, IMDB and who knows what else may soon have smart competition with a major home-field advantage.
Regardless of how it turns out, I respect Google for bringing innovative web ideas to fruition. I hope they continue to recognize their users are creating great content and personal answers that deserve to be found.
This morning, the Solar Impulse solar-powered aircraft touched down at Payerne air base in Switzerland after its first all-night flight which lasted more that 26 hours. The aircraft, which weighs about 3,500 pounds, reached a maximum speed of 68 knots and a maximum altitude of 8,564 meters above sea level.
This was the first ever all-night flight by a solar-powered aircraft. The energy is collected and stored on 12,000 solar panels on the plane’s wings during the day and is used to power four electric motors. So, what’s next for the Solar Impulse? Circumnavigating the globe in 2010? Maybe.
The deal comes less than three months after the giant Silicon Valley Internet search company invested $38.8 million in two wind farms in North Dakota, developed by NextEra Energy Resources, that generate enough energy to power more than 55,000 homes.
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