Google’s energy subsidiary has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with NextEra Energy.

Google will begin buying 114 megawatts of electricity from an Iowa wind farm later this year. Google intends to sell this energy on wholesale markets, and simultaneously buy energy where they need it.

By buying the wind energy directly, Google has created a giant hedge against both rising energy prices and the future cost of compliance with emissions reduction mandates

The company also pointed out that "our deal has a greater impact on the renewable industry than simply buying RECs from third parties; our long-term commitment directly frees up capital for the developer to build more wind projects … Through the long term purchase of renewable energy at a predetermined price, we’re partially protecting ourselves against future increases in power prices. This is a case where buying green makes business sense.".

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FreeGreen is an American architecture and engineering company which is offering its house plans - with full construction specifications normally costing thousands of dollars - for free (See www.freegreen.com). The environmentally friendly design come with suggestions for particular products which meet FreeGreen’s specifications. Of course, clients can choose any products they like but the company’s revenue comes from advertisers paying for these product placements.

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The success of Wikipedia has brought the notion of commons to public attention. Commons are not new but were a dominant part of most economic systems prior to the Industrial Revolution.

In England, for example, the people of a village would have an area of common land which they could all use for grazing cattle, collecting fruit, gathering firewood and so on. This system was brought to an end between 1760 and 1820 by the “enclosure” of village common land. The result, whether as a deliberate ploy of the capitalists (as Marx claimed) or coincidentally, was to deprive thousands of ordinary “commoners” of a large part of their livlihood - and create a large workforce desperate enough to put up with the atrocious conditions of the factories.

"MandK Industrial Revolution" (public domain)

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It would be hard not to notice China’s ever-increasing domination of the production of ever-cheaper manufactured good. Many in the West explain this by pointing to China’s pool of cheap labour. This simplistic explanation is mistaken and will lead to missed opportunities as China continues to play an increasingly important part in the global economy.

Shanghai
("Blick auf die Skyline von Pudong" by Yorky ex Wikimedia)

If having cheap labour was the main factor in being able to produce and sell cheap manufactured goods, then counties, such as those in Africa, which have even cheaper labour should be outperforming China; or countries like Mexico and Egypt, with cheap labour and proximity to the major markets in the US and Europe, should be dominant. But, clearly, these countries are not matching China’s performance.

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