14 DAY TRIAL // Google continues its foray into clean and renewable energy with an investment from its venture capital arm in CoolPlanetBioFuels, a startup that produces biofuel from residual biomass. The startup has a technology that allows it to convert any type of plant material into fuel.
Google Ventures has invested an undisclosed amount in a new round of funding for the company in which it raised $20 million. Google was not the leading investor.
While biofuel may not seem like something that Google might be interested in, Google Ventures has a rather broad portfolio and is free to invest in any type of company.
That said, Google Ventures tries to stick with the true and tested, web services and ad companies, but it also has stakes in a few companies working on more efficient energy usage.
"As a company, Google is interested in reducing all aspects of its environmental footprint. As a firm, Google Ventures is interested in contributing to this effort both on Google’s behalf and for the benefit of positive global impact," Bill Maris, managing partner of Google Ventures, told GigaOm.
"While petroleum does not constitute a large percentage of Google’s emission profile, we are enthusiastic about supporting technologies that can help us economically reduce our carbon footprint while simultaneously contributing to our domestic energy security," he explained.
CoolPlanetBioFuels' technology solves quite a lot of problems. The process of actually creating the fuel is carbon neutral. What's more, if the excess carbon created is sequestrated as the company plans to, it's actually carbon "negative."
While Google isn't reliant on oil for its business, the company is looking at all manner of green technologies that not necessarily impact it directly. The company has invested in wind farm projects and has pledged to buy a significant amount of green electricity.