The world’s leading search engine is positioning itself to take over a whole market if current research into renewable energy pays off.

An executive in charge of Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) green energy programs, Bill Weihl, told Reuters recently that the company could have “multiple megawatts” of clean power being generated in just a few years.

Google is said to be investing heavily in geothermal and wind energy but is focused more on solar thermal technology because of it’s increasing use for utility-scale projects in California and the Southwest. The company has invested close to $70 million in the renewable energy market, with $50 million in clean energy startups and almost $20 million on its own research efforts.

Google executives strongly believe that Google investors would stand to gain from any sizeable advances in clean energy technology the company develops, since such efforts are being handled by a unit of the company’s for-profit side as opposed to its charitable venture.

To support their claim, Google points to a study from the Pew Charitable Trusts that shows green jobs growing in the current economy faster than traditional ones.

Google’s venture into the renewable energy market may very well provide a business model for other companies to follow suit.

source: nasdaq.com

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