Google To Help Save Energy With Software
Google Inc. will soon roll out free software that will allow consumers to track their home electricity use and improve energy efficiency in an attempt to help weaken global warming.
Director for Climate Change and Energy Initiatives at Google, Dan Reicher, told Reuters they were talking with utility companies in the United States, Europe and Asia to make the product available shortly to general consumers.
Google said in February that as part of its effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it would use its software skills for a program that will show home energy consumption in real time on a user’s computer or a telephone.
"It will get rolled out very soon to regular energy consumers," Reicher said, without providing exact timings.
"When I began getting information about my own home, I discovered that I had a 35-year electric motor running for my heating system. That was using huge amount of electricity. I did not realize that’s the change I need to make in my home."
Google cited studies showing that access to home energy information typically saves between 5 percent and 15 percent on monthly electric bills.
"The beauty of the tool we are developing is that is going to be an open source," Reicher said.
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