Google's Possible Internet & Energy Revolution Milestone? - Brokerblogger

Even though earth2tech had a good article on "Why Bloom Energy Is & Isn’t the Google of Greentech", I don't know if any online publications have written about the connection between the "Bloom Box" on 60 Minutes, Google becoming a "utility", Google's "dark fiber" billion dollar investment, and the ongoing Internet Revolution which may even help with an "energy revolution", but here is my opinion, because I think this all could be VERY BIG for the USA:

 

You probably now know about the "Bloom Box" company from 60 Minutes, etc., and here is what I said in my comment on "Catholic Online" under their recent article "Google gets OK to market power":  "60 Minutes just did a piece on the "Bloom Box" which is showing great promise. In fact their story about this said: "Four units have been powering a Google datacenter for 18 months. They use natural gas, but half as much as would be required for a traditional power plant." I now am fairly certain why Google got the right to behave like a utility. I think Google has enough cash to buy K.R. Sridhar's company, if they so desire. See the 2/18/10 "The Bloom Box: An Energy Breakthrough?" .  Even if Google doesn't buy Bloom Energy, they can get a license from them, and still have a great energy utility.

 

Here is an interesting article from 6/23/06 "Google and Its Continuing Dark Fiber Mystery" which says:  "News Analysis: Analysts say Google may be spending more than $1 billion on infrastructure projects, including purchases of a "dark fiber" backbone."  The Google stockholders at the time didn't like that!  Here is a definition of "Dark Fiber".  In that same article it says:  "What Google is doing now (6/23/06) with the global infrastructure—or, more to the point, what it plans to do in the future—has sparked plenty of speculation in the telecommunications and computer industry." 

 

It speculates what I think is the Dark Fiber's connection to "Grid Computing":  "Google will build out distributed data centers near access points to improve performance for search results and its ad serving business, as well as create a grid computing services operation."  If you don't want to read the entire 11/17/05 article in that link, here is the key point:  "There, in a secret area off-limits even to regular GoogleFolk, is a shipping container. But it isn't just any shipping container. This shipping container is a prototype data center. Google hired a pair of very bright industrial designers to figure out how to cram the greatest number of CPUs, the most storage, memory and power support into a 20- or 40-foot box. We're talking about 5000 Opteron processors and 3.5 petabytes of disk storage that can be dropped-off overnight by a tractor-trailer rig. The idea is to plant one of these puppies anywhere Google owns access to fiber, basically turning the entire Internet into a giant processing and storage grid."   IT'S STARTING TO HAPPEN WITH THE "1 Gbps Test" ALMOST 5 YEARS LATER THAN THAT ARTICLE!

 

As Google turns the entire Internet into a giant processing and storage grid, it can also use that resource to help it become a fantastically successful energy utility with the right "green" power source (maybe the "Bloom Box").  Just like your electronic thermostat saves you money on your HVAC bills, Google's "Grid Computing" with 1Gbps can be like a computerized thermostat on steroids for energy utility companies like Google, IMO.

 

Here is another article that helps "connect the dots".  On 2/16/10, "FCC's 100 Megabits to the Home:  What It Means To You" says:  "Google is planning a series of "experimental" fiber optic networks designed to bring blazingly fast 1-gigabit-per-second broadband -- yes, that's 10 times faster than the FCC plan -- to a small number of U.S. communities."  On 2/10/10 Google announced the:  "Google Fiber for Communities TEST" with their blog piece "Think big with a gig:  Our experimental fiber network".  It starts off saying:  "Imagine sitting in a rural health clinic, streaming three-dimensional medical imaging over the web and discussing a unique condition with a specialist in New York. Or downloading a high-definition, full-length feature film in less than five minutes. Or collaborating with classmates around the world while watching live 3-D video of a university lecture."  Between this coming Internet Revolution milestone, and the possible Energy Revolution milestone, THIS IS EXCITING!!  It's like being around for the beginning of the American Industrial Revolution!