Silicon Valley Picks Up the Slack on Green Tech

In addition to competing over cutting-edge tech products and shares of the market, California tech companies appear to be jockeying for the title of "America's Greenest Company." Todd Woody of Yale Environment 360 writes this week that companies like Google, eBay and Adobe are keeping ahead of the eco-curve with new investments in off-site wind and solar energy, and new modes of green electricity.

"We're a technology company and people have to step up and be early adopters in the green area or it won't go anywhere," says Adobe's director of workplace solutions Randy Knox. That's why Adobe will provide workers energy saving options like parking spaces connected to electric chargers when battery-powered vehicles hit streets later this year.

Google has taken the extra step of creating a whole new company, dubbed Google Energy, charged with securing renewable energy for Google buildings and data centers. In its license application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Google Energy said its goal was to become "a power marketer, purchasing electricity and reselling it to wholesale customers."

Environmental action has long been criticized as an issue of convenience. People are glad to go green if they have the cash, but it's less possible for people struggling just to put food on the table. The same is true for companies.

Compare California's Silicon Valley to Detroit's auto industry, for example. The products and services sold by Google, Adobe and eBay have two significant advantages over those sold by GM, Ford, and Chrysler. First, they are inherently more environmentally friendly because they don't spew greenhouse gasses. And second, they continue to be huge moneymakers. Silicon Valley is using its major financial advantage to invest in renewable energy, but such investment would be a tougher sell to car executives right now. This is why it's particularly frustrating when companies like Facebook, with plenty of money and industry momentum, decide to use coal instead of renewable energy to run its power stations.

The reality is that in most cases, going green is financially beneficial for companies in the long run. But it's difficult for some to make the initial investment that will lead to energy savings and benefit the bottom line. So where cash strapped companies and state governments have failed to be on the vanguard of green technology, Silicon Valley has continued to pick up the slack.

Photo credit: filippo minelli