Google recently acquired Makani Power a US based company who make wind turbines. They are going to be working together on an innovative project which involves autonomous developing flying wind turbines that capture higher-altitude wind. According to the Guardian, Astro Teller, the head of Google's secretive research unit Google [x], it could play an important role in world energy production.
Google aims to power the company with 100% renewable energy, it currently stands at 30%. To hit their target, they have entered into long-term purchasing agreements directly with utility providers and are investing in renewable energy projects such as Makani.
Earlier this month, they announced a deal with insurer Allianz and Swedish windfarm developer O2 to supply its data centre in Finland with renewable energy. Under the project finance type deal, Allianz will provide a 100% of the debt needed by O2 to construct the Maevaara windfarm, on the back of Google committing to buying the entire output of the O2 windfarm for the next 10 years. Allianz will assume ownership of the farm when it's operational, and O2 run the facility under a management agreement.
But with Google there's always a big picture, the Google[x] unit is described as a "moonshot" factory full of PHDs and Peter Pans working to solve some of the world's unsolved problems, which will positively change the world for the better.