Google calls for every business to be smart with energy

Green Business

'Green business' looks set to be one of the 'buzz' phrases of the future as enterprises of all sizes begin to wake up to the economic benefits of adopting sustainable practices. And whereas plenty of businesses are now getting their energy from renewable sources and using more energy efficient devices, the next step businesses need to take is the deployment of smart meters.

This is something echoed by Google and 45 other high-tech companies, retailers and green groups who are all putting pressure on President Barack Obama to support the roll out of smart meters to all homes and businesses.

Google's Michael Terrell said: "Consumers of energy are one of the nation's largest untapped clean energy resources. In order for consumers to reach their full potential we need the Federal Government to help lead the way."

In an open letter to the President, The Climate Group asks for consumers to be given "timely, useful and actionable information on their energy use", including pricing and the generation sources of electricity.

Making savings

By being able to easily and accurately monitor power usage, businesses can save themselves lots of money at a time when it is becoming increasingly important to watch your bottom line carefully. On top of this, with government legislation on the way that will go against big polluters but work in favour of those businesses investing in cutting the carbon they produce.

And in terms of helping America with its overall carbon cutting goals, by providing the ability to monitor and manage energy consumption, the US could expect a 15 percent reduction in electricity consumption by 2020, according to The Climate Group, saving USD$46 billion on energy bills.

And although this target does appear a little optimistic, smart meters will undoubtedly lead to a significant reduction in carbon emissions and energy bills.

Some of America's biggest companies, like AT&T, General Electric and Hewlett-Packard are hoping to persuade the government to set out a programme of incentives for the deployment of smart technology and investment in programmes to engage America's business world as well as the every day consumer.

If The Climate Group's calculations are accurate, then the commercial incentives for the rolling out of smart grid technology should be more than enough to convince everyone involved, with estimates putting the global market at a value of $12.6 billion.

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Businesses getting excited about renewable energy | Google vs. China | Silicon Valley startups, step up

Daniel Jones

Daniel is a Politics and Philosophy graduate from Cardiff University where he also worked as a section editor on the award winning student newspaper. After university he joined an IT support company where he was a B2B online writer. He loves anything to do with sport and joined GDS in July 2009.

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