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Google Gets US Approval To Buy and Sell Energy
An anonymous reader writes "The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Thursday granted Google the authority to buy and sell energy on a wholesale basis. Google applied for the authorization last December through a wholly owned subsidiary called Google Energy. 'We made this filing so we can have more flexibility in procuring power for Google's own operations, including our data centers,' Google spokeswoman Niki Fenwick said via e-mail. But the authorization also raises the prospect that Google may start to buy and sell energy as a business." Reader angry_tapir supplies a link to the approval document itself (PDF).
I'm sure it's completely unrelated to all the stories we've been hearing about Google investigating nuclear reactors and inviting speakers to give tech talks on alternate nuclear power concepts.
How we know is more important than what we know.
The two are not mutually exclusive. Remember that the Matrix was built as result of a war between humans and machines.
First Skynet, then Matrix.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
I reckon they're going to build a Thorium reactor to power their datacentres. Ever since I saw Googletalks on it, I thought this would make sense for them. Help the world (cheap, reliable nuclear energy), and help themselves (ultra cheap power).
Get your own free personal location tracker
This is anything but an unrelated "business opportunity".
Google owns huge datacenters. Google has been known to purchase gobs of dark fibre, at this point I imagine they might very well have sufficient connectivity between their datacenters to sustain operations. Throw in their own little grid (a bunch of thorium reactors, perhaps?) and, given enough thorium, they become self-sufficient. Throw in some wireless connectivity with base stations (remember the 700 MHz spectrum auction? Remember Google's bid?) linked to their fibre network and powered through their grid and you get a self-sustaining ad distribution network that'll reach the whole U.S. without needing any partners.
"Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely." Will "don't be evil" cancel that?
Actually, that would be awesome. A grocery store with products people want subsidised by Google for data mining to sell ads. Imagine searching online and seeing things like Lettuce, Carrots, Croutons and Salad dressing in your targeted advertising because you buy a lot of salad ingredients at Google Grocery.
Watch out Walmart, Google is coming to town!
You can buy power, food, phones, ChromeOS Netbooks and more.
Make America grate again!
Large, multinational corporate conglomerate, with fingers in far-ranging businesses that have less and less to do with its core competency.
Sounds to me like a good time to get out of GOOG, before everyone realizes that a single company making nylons and nuclear weapons can't be world-class in both.
Part of the Second American Revolution!
I'd like to know how long it took for the whole request to be processed in the USA. A similar thing in Italy would require not less than 90 days, very likely twice as long.
Maybe Computers will never be as intelligent as Humans.
For sure they won't ever become so stupid. [VR-1988]