Global Warming and Pollution

Google, you’re wrong. According to a story in the Washington Post, Google’s green energy czar Bill Weihl told participants at the Reuters Global Climate and Alternative Energy Summit that “there is a lack of companies that have ideas that would be considered breakthroughs in the green technology sector.”

Representing the company he noted, “I would say it’s reasonable to be a little bit discouraged there and from my point of view, it’s not right to be seriously discouraged,” he said. “There isn’t enough investment going into the early stages of investment pipeline before the venture funds come into the play.”

Weihl, apparently, also said the United States needs to raise government-backed research significantly, particularly in the very initial stages to encourage breakthrough ideas in the sector.

Google, through it’s philanthropic effort, google.org, announced plans in late 2007 to create renewable energy at a price lower than power from coal. But since then it has invested less than $50 million in other companies.

Weihl said Google had not intended to invest much more in early years, but that there was little to buy.

To say that there is a lack of companies that have ideas that would be considered breakthroughs and that there is little to buy is a tad short-sighted. Actually, there’s an abundance of companies and individuals with ideas that could be breakthroughs. Many, with the the deft use of a search engine, can be found on the Web.

Google, try searching yourself.

Perhaps unlike Google’s green energy inbox, this editor’s inbox is chuck full of ideas, any of which could be breakthroughs:

— Earthsure, of Woodbridge, New Jersey, wants to harness solar energy underground. Yes, under the grass, in the dirt. The company’s idea dubbed SubSolar( tm) for Subterranean Solar includes an optical device installed upon a rooftop or other sunlight-catching environment. This device would capture and magnify the sun’s rays and transfer the sunlight from its linear or cylindrical lenses though fiber-optic lines leading down into an underground storage of solar panel modules. The subterranean solar panels would be buried 3 - 4 feet and be encased in cylindrical tubes or in sealed boxes

Why? Some find solar panels unsightly – hidden underground they’d never be seen. But the solar panels would also be protected from the elements, keeping them clean, and panels would stay naturally cool so they’d perform more efficiently.

— EarthSure also wants to to capture the hot air being blown out of air conditioning units and put to work. The company’s Wind Air system idea would utilize the exhaust of warm air from a traditional air conditioning condensing unit spinning a secondary fan that would generate electricity. The electricity could be fed to the building or to the power grid.