Finding flu vaccine information in one easy place

This year, it's especially important to have clear information on what you can do to prepare for the flu season. With this in mind, we are happy to share a new feature for the U.S. which allows you to more easily find locations near you for getting both the seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccine. After <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/google-flu-trends-expands-to-16.html">expanding</a> <a href="http://www.google.org/flutrends/">Google Flu Trends</a> to a total of 20 countries and 38 languages, allowing more people to see near real-time estimates of flu activity, we began brainstorming with the <a href="http://www.hhs.gov/">U.S. Department for Health and Human Services</a> (HHS), their flu.gov collaborators and the American Lung Association on the flu shot finder and other ways Google can be helpful to people this flu season.<br /><br />You can check out the flu shot finder at <a href="http://www.google.com/flushot">www.google.com/flushot</a>. The same tool will also be available shortly on <a href="http://www.flu.gov/">www.flu.gov</a> and the <a href="http://www.flucliniclocator.org/">American Lung Association</a> websites. It's important to note that this project is just beginning and we have not yet received information about flu shot clinics for many locations. In addition, many locations that are shown are currently out of stock. We launched this service now in order to help disseminate information about locations where vaccines are available, and also to make more vaccine providers aware of the project so that they can contribute.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0uzEZEovYRQpj_KqxWlM3MwtMr5S5qlF8DRsc3LNmafvDgTc_gQyXOxWrFfugKslNF1PlPR_yFu0JlX4PnlbhGc8jjph38p_O8hcKQdjyKjiO_ucsGLbHN9rxENvVuUj4bo1MXwm8fmM/s1600-h/Pittsburgh_example.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402522558599676066" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0uzEZEovYRQpj_KqxWlM3MwtMr5S5qlF8DRsc3LNmafvDgTc_gQyXOxWrFfugKslNF1PlPR_yFu0JlX4PnlbhGc8jjph38p_O8hcKQdjyKjiO_ucsGLbHN9rxENvVuUj4bo1MXwm8fmM/s400/Pittsburgh_example.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 223px;" /></a><br />Especially given <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/info/swine-flu-h1n1-vaccine/?scp=1-spot&sq=h1n1%20vaccine&st=cse">slower than expected vaccine production</a>, we think it's important to bring together flu shot information in a coherent manner. We've been working with HHS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local health agencies to gather information on flu vaccine locations across the country, particularly for the H1N1 flu vaccine (both the nasal-spray vaccine and the shot). At the moment we have data for locations of flu vaccine directly from 20 states and counting. We are also continuing to add information from chain pharmacies and other providers in all 50 states; today, you'll find results from chains such as Walgreens, CVS and PDX participants, such as Kmart, Duane Reade, WinnDixie and Giant Eagle.<br /><br />Of course you should still call flu vaccine providers ahead of time to find out more about availability and eligibility for the two vaccines.<br /><br />We hope to continue providing you with relevant information to help keep you and your loved ones healthy.<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Update on 11/19</span></span>: We just added the flu shot finder as a search feature on Google.com. Now, if you search for terms like [<a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=flu">flu</a>], [<a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=flu+shot">flu shot</a>], [<a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=h1n1+shot">h1n1 shot</a>] or [<a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=flu+vaccine">flu vaccine</a>], information will appear at the top of your search results, including flu tips from flu.gov as well as the flu shot finder box with an expanding map that displays locations where you can receive seasonal and/or H1N1 flu shots.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';font-size:11px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVUIHL0Zuto5dLQdNKclfi2VNCP1o7q6iN_vMIayYEJZ1PY1_LTJuF5FV_9go3aqVbKFYV16NinPudHi6jjtNGdaZES2vhPxzTyzK4QjdN4s893jq5ReFnxPW5bjHfRxc6e0-dVkbMWS8/s1600/FluOnebox.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405909551550449954" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVUIHL0Zuto5dLQdNKclfi2VNCP1o7q6iN_vMIayYEJZ1PY1_LTJuF5FV_9go3aqVbKFYV16NinPudHi6jjtNGdaZES2vhPxzTyzK4QjdN4s893jq5ReFnxPW5bjHfRxc6e0-dVkbMWS8/s400/FluOnebox.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 113px;" /></a></span><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Roni Zeiger, M.D., Product Manager and Jennifer Haroon, Product Marketing Manager</span></div>

Finding flu vaccine information in one easy place

This year, it's especially important to have clear information on what you can do to prepare for the flu season. With this in mind, we a...

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Google Flu Trends expands to 16 additional countries

If you're like us, you're probably thinking a lot about how this year's flu season might affect you and your community. To help you out, we at <a href="http://www.google.org/">Google.org</a> are excited to announce the expansion of <a href="http://www.google.org/flutrends/">Google Flu Trends</a> to 16 additional countries, including much of Europe. We've also made the site available in 37 languages. Flu is a global threat, affecting millions worldwide each year, so we're pleased to make this tool available in more regions and languages.<br /><br /><a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/tracking-flu-trends.html">Last November</a>, we launched Google Flu Trends in the United States after finding a close relationship between how many people search for flu-related topics and how many people actually have flu symptoms. By tracking the popularity of certain Google search queries, we are able to estimate the level of flu, in near real-time. While some traditional flu surveillance systems may take days or weeks to collect and release data, Google search queries can be counted immediately. Google Flu Trends provides an additional surveillance tool that may help public health officials and the public make more informed decisions about preparing for the flu season.<br /><br />In the past year, we've expanded our coverage to include Mexico, New Zealand and Australia and have continued to see a good correspondence between our estimates and official flu activity data. In fact, our analysis of last season shows that Google Flu Trends had a close 0.92 correlation with official U.S. flu data.<br /><br />An important aspect of Google Flu Trends is that we filter out terms that may be popular because people hear about them in the news. What we do not use in the models is a term like [swine flu] since people are more likely to type that into Google because they want to know more information about it, given the news headlines, and not because they actually have H1N1 or swine flu. For more information about how we built this model, take a peek at this video:<br /><br /><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6111nS66Dpk&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6111nS66Dpk&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object><br /><br />If you visit Google Flu Trends for the U.S., you'll notice that the flu season is starting early this year. For tips on how to stay healthy this season, please visit our friends at the <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/preventing.htm">U.S. CDC</a> and <a href="http://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/healthtopics/Pages/Influenza_A%28H1N1%29_Outbreak.aspx">the ECDC</a>.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Matt Mohebbi and Dan Vanderkam, Software Engineers</span>

Google Flu Trends expands to 16 additional countries

If you're like us, you're probably thinking a lot about how this year's flu season might affect you and your community. To help ...

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Google PowerMeter's first device partner

Today, we're very excited to announce we have secured our first official device partner. (That means having a smart meter installed by your utility is no longer a prerequisite for using Google PowerMeter!) For the last several months, a few hundred Google employees have been testing a number of in-home electricity monitoring devices. Those of us lucky enough to have one of these devices installed in our homes experienced first-hand how access to high-resolution <a href="http://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/research/energy/downloads/smart-metering-report.pdf">energy use information drives meaningful behavior change</a> (PDF). So we set out to make that data easier for everyone to access and understand by sending the collected data to our <a href="http://www.google.org/powermeter">Google PowerMeter</a> software.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeR6niGdSyrRLq7RYuGVBmUNQadqKK9nvROUWEwc4XKQhV5bilL-6KlGC4vseYeN7HTzTRzGOiJS1UqxAONN0X-pNZ0heZ9XZ967V9dl2wozxuJehjQ5ekXKC-ICdh-GzNZIrKv8J5u9rV/s1600-h/green1.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389252974829879858" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeR6niGdSyrRLq7RYuGVBmUNQadqKK9nvROUWEwc4XKQhV5bilL-6KlGC4vseYeN7HTzTRzGOiJS1UqxAONN0X-pNZ0heZ9XZ967V9dl2wozxuJehjQ5ekXKC-ICdh-GzNZIrKv8J5u9rV/s200/green1.png" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 97px; height: 200px;" /></a><br />The TED 5000 from Energy Inc. is an energy monitor that measures electricity usage in real-time (TED stands for "<a href="http://www.theenergydetective.com/index.html">The Energy Detective</a>"). As of today, we're pleased to announce that anyone in North America can <a href="http://www.theenergydetective.com/ted-5000-overview.html">purchase and install the TED 5000</a> and see personal home energy data using our free software tool, Google PowerMeter, from anywhere you can access the web including through <a href="http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2009/06/snack-time-with-new-igoogle-for-android.html">iGoogle for mobile phones</a>. (If you already have a TED 5000, you can download a free <a href="http://www.theenergydetective.com/ted-5000-firmware-upgrade.html">firmware upgrade</a> to enable this functionality.)<br /><br />Combined with Google PowerMeter, the TED 5000 device can help you understand your electricity usage to save energy and money. Energy Inc. is just our first device partner and if you are working for a company that manufactures energy monitors, we'd like to <a href="https://services.google.com/fb/forms/powerreaderdevice/">hear from you</a>. Stay tuned for more!<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Tom Sly, New Business Development & Charles Spirakis, Software Engineer</span>

Google PowerMeter's first device partner

Today, we're very excited to announce we have secured our first official device partner. (That means having a smart meter installed by y...

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Energized about our first Google PowerMeter partners

Earlier this year I blogged about <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/power-to-people.html">energy information</a> and a tool our engineers developed called <a href="http://www.google.org/powermeter/howitworks.html">Google PowerMeter</a>, a <a href="http://www.google.com/webmasters/gadgets/">Google gadget</a> that can show consumers their personal electricity consumption right on a home computer. Our software relies on "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_meter">smart meters</a>" (or other metering devices) as a data source. Over the past several months we've been looking to partner with utilities that are installing (or have already installed) this equipment in their customers' homes. We're energized by our very first Google PowerMeter partners:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.sdge.com/">San Diego Gas & Electric®</a> (California)<br /></li><li><a href="http://www.txu.com/">TXU Energy</a> (Texas)</li><li><a href="http://www.jea.com/">JEA</a> (Florida)</li><li><a href="http://www.rel.co.in/Rel/default.jsp">Reliance Energy</a> (India)</li><li><a href="http://www.wisconsinpublicservice.com/">Wisconsin Public Service Corporation</a> (Wisconsin)</li><li><a href="http://www.whiteriver.org/highband.html">White River Valley Electric Cooperative</a> (Missouri)</li><li><a href="http://www.torontohydro.com/">Toronto Hydro–Electric System Limited</a> (Canada)</li><li><a href="http://www.glasgowepb.net/">Glasgow EPB</a> (Kentucky)</li></ul> Our initial partners include utilities with millions of customers as well as smaller ones. They are rural and urban, privately held and municipally run. Some are in the United States, others in Canada and India. They all have one thing in common — a desire to serve their customers by providing access to detailed information that helps <a href="http://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/research/energy/electric-metering.php">save energy and money</a>. For now, Google PowerMeter is only available to a limited group of customers, but we plan to expand our roll out later this year. Our utility partners are leading the charge to make the electricity grid smarter and we look forward to working with them and others.<br /><br />In addition to utilities, we're also seeking partnerships with companies that can enable the implementation of our software. Our first such partner is <a href="http://www.itron.com/">Itron</a>, a leading meter and data management company that serves over 8,000 utilities and is helping some of their customers, including San Diego Gas & Electric, integrate with Google PowerMeter. If you're a utility or company with a smart meter project that might be interested in plugging in to our efforts, visit our <a href="http://www.google.org/powermeter/contactus.html">website</a> for more information.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTtUOz_3_iO1p6lLXg7JGXwqkPtOPwqzE8GlvbciRxw9qrplYLeIIZiY6_-2QCWV95ngLCyzHke0Wm2GHFttVWw6hcVkhjy95QUyr2CFV4-ZyX4PC_ETvPhN8BO7-FrQyfMFBm2ViBpYCQ/s1600-h/PowerMeter+screenshot.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337690276303748658" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTtUOz_3_iO1p6lLXg7JGXwqkPtOPwqzE8GlvbciRxw9qrplYLeIIZiY6_-2QCWV95ngLCyzHke0Wm2GHFttVWw6hcVkhjy95QUyr2CFV4-ZyX4PC_ETvPhN8BO7-FrQyfMFBm2ViBpYCQ/s400/PowerMeter+screenshot.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 387px;" /></a><span class="byline-author">Posted by Ed Lu, Engineering team</span>

Energized about our first Google PowerMeter partners

Earlier this year I blogged about energy information and a tool our engineers developed called Google PowerMeter , a Google gadget that ca...

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Experimental Flu Trends for Mexico

<span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >(Cross-posted on the <a href="http://blog.google.org/2009/04/experimental-flu-trends-for-mexico.html">Google.org Blog</a>)</span><br /><br />In November 2008, we launched <a href="http://www.google.org/flutrends/">Google Flu Trends</a> after finding a close relationship between how many people search for flu-related topics and how many people actually have flu symptoms. Google Flu Trends may be able to detect influenza outbreaks earlier than other systems because it estimates flu activity in near real time.<br /><br />In response to recent inquiries from public health officials, we've been attempting to use Google search activity in Mexico to help track human swine flu levels. <a href="http://www.google.org/flutrends/intl/en_mx/index.html"> Experimental Flu Trends for Mexico</a> is, as you might have guessed, very experimental. But the system has detected increases in flu-related searches in Mexico City (Distrito Federal) and a few other Mexican states in recent days, beginning early in the week of April 19-25.<br /><br />In the United States, we were able to validate our estimates using data from a surveillance system managed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). We have not verified our data for Mexico in the same manner, but we've seen that Google users in Mexico (and around the world) also search for many flu-related topics when they have flu-like symptoms. Given the tremendous recent attention to swine flu, our model tries to filter out search queries that are more likely associated with topical searches rather than searches by those who may be experiencing symptoms.<br /><br />While we would prefer to validate this data and improve its accuracy, we decided to release an early version today so that it might help public health officials and concerned individuals get an up-to-date picture of the ongoing swine flu outbreak. As with our existing Flu Trends system, estimates are provided across many of Mexico's states and updated every day. Our current estimates of flu activity in the U.S. are still generally low as would be expected given the relatively low confirmed swine flu case count. However, we'll be keeping an eye on the data to look for any spike in activity.<br /><br />We're keenly aware of the trust our users place in us and our responsibility to protect their privacy. Experimental Flu Trends for Mexico -- like Google Flu Trends -- cannot be used to identify individual users. The patterns we observe are only meaningful across large populations of Google searchers. We hope that this experimental release provides useful information.<br /><br />For updates on swine flu and information on how to stay healthy during a disease outbreak, visit the<a href="http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/"> CDC's swine flu site</a>.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Jeremy Ginsberg and Matt Mohebbi, Software Engineers</span>

Experimental Flu Trends for Mexico

(Cross-posted on the Google.org Blog ) In November 2008, we launched Google Flu Trends after finding a close relationship between how many ...

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The next chapter for Google.org

<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">(Cross-posted from the </span><a href="http://blog.google.org/2009/02/next-chapter-for-googleorg.html" style="font-style: italic;">Google.org Blog</a><span style="font-style: italic;">)</span></span><br /><br />When Larry and Sergey<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></span></span></span> <a href="http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1288776/000119312504142742/ds1a.htm">laid out their vision for Google.org</a>, they hoped that this "experiment in active philanthropy" would one day have an even greater impact on the world than Google itself. They committed resources from Google's profits, equity and substantial employee time to this philanthropic effort, and they created the mission: "to use the power of information and technology to address the global challenges of our age." They structured <a href="http://www.google.org/">Google.org</a> so that in addition to traditional grant making, it can also invest in for-profit companies, advocate for policies and, most important, tap into Google's strengths: its employees, products and technologies. At first I was skeptical about "going corporate," but I came on board convinced that Google could make real progress on these issues. I think we have made an excellent beginning, but it is just a very few steps on a long path. <br /><br />Now, three years after Google.org was founded, we've been reviewing our progress, and how best to take things forward. It's clear that I am most effective in helping to identify "big ideas" and potential partners, as well as raising awareness about society's biggest challenges. I am therefore very excited to become Google's Chief Philanthropy Evangelist. I think this is the highest contribution that I can make both to Google.org and to fighting the urgent threats of our day: from climate change to emerging infectious diseases, to issues of poverty and health care. By focusing my energy outwards I hope to be able to spend more time motivating policy makers, encouraging public and private partnerships, and generally advocating for the changes that we must make as a global society to solve these problems. Long-time Googler Megan Smith will take over day-to-day management of Google.org, joining as General Manager to lead us through this transition, in addition to her existing role as Vice President of New Business Development.<br /><br />One of the first things that Megan will focus on is how Google.org can best achieve its mission. During our review it became clear that while we have been able to support some remarkable non-profit organizations over the past three years, our greatest impact has come when we've attacked problems in ways that make the most of Google's strengths in technology and information; examples of this approach include <a href="http://www.google.org/flutrends/">Flu Trends</a>, <a href="http://www.google.org/recharge/">RechargeIT</a>, <a href="http://knol.google.com/k/-/-/15x31uzlqeo5n/1#">Clean Energy 2030</a>, and <a href="http://www.google.org/powermeter/">PowerMeter</a>. By aligning Google.org more closely with Google as a whole, Megan will ensure that we're better able to build innovative, scalable technology and information solutions. As a first step, Google has decided to put even more engineers and technical talent to work on these issues and problems, resources which I have found to be extraordinary. In this global economic crisis, the work Google.org is doing, together with our many colleagues around the world, to help develop cheap clean energy, find and fight disease outbreaks before they sweep the globe, and build information platforms for underserved people globally, is more important than ever. We stand behind the commitment made in 2004 to devote 1% of Google's equity and profits to philanthropy, and we will continue to iterate on our philanthropic model to make sure our resources have the greatest possible impact for good.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Dr. Larry Brilliant, Chief Philanthropy Evangelist, Google.org<br /></span>

The next chapter for Google.org

(Cross-posted from the Google.org Blog ) When Larry and Sergey laid out their vision for Google.org , they hoped that this "experiment...

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Power to the people

Imagine how hard it would be to stick to a budget in a store with no prices. Well, that's pretty much how we buy electricity today. Your utility company sends you a bill at the end of the month with very few details. Most people don't know how much electricity their appliances use, where in the house they are wasting electricity, or how much the bill might go up during different seasons. But in a world where everyone had a detailed understanding of their home energy use, we could find all sorts of ways to save energy and lower electricity bills. In fact, <a href="http://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/research/energy/electric-metering.php">studies show</a> that access to home energy information results in savings between 5-15% on monthly electricity bills. It may not sound like much, but if half of America's households cut their energy demand by 10 percent, it would be the equivalent of taking eight million cars off the road.<br /><br />Google’s mission is to "organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful," and we believe consumers have a right to detailed information about their <a href="http://www.google.org/powermeter/">home electricity use</a>. We're tackling the challenge on several fronts, from policy advocacy to developing consumer tools, and even investing in smart grid companies. We've been participating in the dialogue in Washington, DC and with public agencies in the U.S. and other parts of the world to advocate for investment in the building of a "smart grid," to bring our 1950s-era electricity grid into the digital age. Specifically, to provide both consumers and utilities with real-time energy information, homes must be equipped with advanced energy meters called "smart meters." There are currently about 40 million smart meters in use worldwide, with plans to add another 100 million in the next few years.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4PgMlZDopssDtUBl_2WjC92O9WmlU-r5qwtg7ltC5hbmNQxPD86-xjd-idjnR2hhipOKyI4qr3wGy9CtAgFBigiNEaREoV5amoJtCDR6O8c6UZBHEYTioqBjrJqSxRb5cfnySsV7MWSF/s1600-h/Info-graphic.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301023342469221010" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4PgMlZDopssDtUBl_2WjC92O9WmlU-r5qwtg7ltC5hbmNQxPD86-xjd-idjnR2hhipOKyI4qr3wGy9CtAgFBigiNEaREoV5amoJtCDR6O8c6UZBHEYTioqBjrJqSxRb5cfnySsV7MWSF/s400/Info-graphic.gif" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" /></a>But deploying smart meters alone isn't enough. This needs to be coupled with a strategy to provide customers with easy access to energy information. That's why we believe that open protocols and standards should serve as the cornerstone of smart grid projects, to spur innovation, drive competition, and bring more information to consumers as the smart grid evolves. We believe that detailed data on your personal energy use belongs to you, and should be available in an open standard, non-proprietary format. You should control who gets to see your data, and you should be free to choose from a wide range of services to help you understand it and benefit from it. For more details on our policy suggestions, check out the <a href="http://www.google.org/powermeter/cpuc.html">comments</a> we filed yesterday with the California Public Utility Commission.<br /><br />In addition to policy advocacy, we're building consumer tools, too. Over the last several months, our engineers have developed a software tool called <a href="http://www.google.org/powermeter/howitworks.html">Google PowerMeter</a>, which will show consumers their home energy information almost in real time, right on their computer. Google PowerMeter is not yet available to the public since we're <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dx38hzRWDQ">testing it out</a> with Googlers first. But we're <a href="http://www.google.org/powermeter/contactus.html">building partnerships</a> with utilities and independent device manufacturers to gradually roll this out in pilot programs. Once we've had a chance to kick the tires, we'll make the tool more widely available.<br /><br />There is no one-size-fits-all solution to providing consumers with detailed energy information. And it will take the combined efforts of federal and state governments, utilities, device manufacturers, and software engineers to empower consumers to use electricity more wisely by giving them access to energy information.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Ed Lu, Engineering team</span>

Power to the people

Imagine how hard it would be to stick to a budget in a store with no prices. Well, that's pretty much how we buy electricity today. Your...

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The Final Inch

<span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >(Cross-posted from the <a href="http://blog.google.org/2008/11/final-inch.html">Google.org blog</a>)</span><br /><br />Early readers of the Google.org blog may recall us embarking on a film project portraying public health heroes working in the field to eradicate polio. Gone from the modern world, <a href="http://www.polioeradication.org/casecount.asp">new cases of polio</a> continue to afflict mostly children under age 3 in the poorest regions of just a few countries — India, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. When we <a href="http://blog.google.org/2007/07/two-introductions_02.html">first announced this project</a> and the collaboration between Google.org and <a href="http://www.vermilionpictures.com/">Vermilion Films</a>, filming was underway <a href="http://blog.google.org/2007/07/two-introductions.html">primarily in India and Afghanistan</a>, documenting the front lines of public health in some forgotten corners of our world.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.who.int/dg/adg/heymann/en/index.html">David Heymann</a> of the World Health Organization reminds us, "When you haven't seen a disease for quite a while, which is the case in the industrialized countries, you forget about the terrible disease that it really is." Polio is such a disease, as it can ruin the lives of children even before they are old enough to understand how to prevent it.<br /><br />We're proud to announce <span style="font-style: italic;">The Final Inch</span>, a 38-minute film about the historic global effort to eradicate polio. Here, the story told is as much about the messengers as the message. You'll meet Munzareen Fatima, one of the thousands of community "foot soldiers" across India working to sway reluctant families to vaccinate their children, and Dr. Ashfaq Bhat, who travels into the backwaters of India's Ganges Basin by boat and foot to detect emerging cases of polio. Martha Mason and Mikail Davenport bring us into their lives and describe the paralyzing challenges of childhood polio, reminding us how endemic polio once was in the United States.<br /><br />Filmed in high-definition (HD) in cinematic style — wide open shots to give a strong sense of place — <span style="font-style: italic;">The Final Inch</span> captures their stories, and we hope it is both a tribute and an inspiration of hope. With a final push, this is a disease that can, and should, be eradicated finally.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Final Inch</span> will air nationally on <a href="http://www.hbo.com/docs/">HBO</a> in 2009. We invite you to check out <a href="http://www.thefinalinch.org/">TheFinalInch.org</a>, where you can view clips from the film and learn more about the people and the organizations tirelessly working on this global effort. You can also check out the film trailer here:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Update</span> on 1/22: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Final Inch</span> received an <a href="http://www.oscar.com/nominees/?pn=detail&nominee=The%20Final%20Inch%20-%20Documentary%20Short%20Subject%20Nominee">Oscar nomination</a> in the category of Best Documentary (Short Film). Check out <a href="http://blog.google.org/2009/01/final-inch-is-nominated-for-oscar.html">our post</a> on the Google.org blog for more information.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Update</span> on 3/31: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Final Inch</span> is coming to a TV screen near you. You can tune into HBO2 on Wednesday, April 1 at 8:00pm ET/PT to see our film. It will re-air on April 7 at 7:15pm ET/PT and is available on HBO on demand. You can check out the full schedule on <a href="http://www.hbo.com/apps/schedule/ScheduleServlet?ACTION_DETAIL=DETAIL&FOCUS_ID=662109">HBO's website</a>.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Gregory Miller, Managing Director, Google.org, and Irene Taylor Brodsky, Vermilion Films, Producer and Director of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Final Inch</span></span>

The Final Inch

(Cross-posted from the Google.org blog ) Early readers of the Google.org blog may recall us embarking on a film project portraying public he...

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How we help track flu trends

<span style="font-style: italic;">This post is the latest in an ongoing <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/using-data-to-fight-webspam.html">series</a> about how we harness the data we collect to improve our products and services for our users. - Ed.</span><br /><br />Google search isn't just about looking up <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=football+scores">football scores</a> from last weekend or finding a great <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=rome+hotel">hotel</a> for your next vacation. It can also be used for the public good. Yesterday, we <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/tracking-flu-trends.html">announced Google Flu Trends</a>, which uses aggregated search data in an effort to confront the challenge of influenza outbreaks.<br /><br />By taking <a href="http://www.google.com/intl/en/trends/about.html">Google Trends</a> — where you can see snapshots of what's on the public's collective mind — and applying the tool to a public health problem, our engineers found that there was a correlation between flu-related queries and the actual flu. They created a model for near real-time estimates about outbreaks, in the hopes that both health care professionals and the general public would use this tool to better prepare for flu season.<br /><br />Since we launched yesterday, the response from the medical community has been positive. "The earlier the warning, the earlier prevention and control measures can be put in place," said Dr. Lyn Finelli of the influenza division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/technology/internet/12flu.html?_r=2&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin&oref=slogin">The New York Times</a>. "[T]his could prevent cases of influenza." You can <a href="http://www.google.org/flutrends/">check out the tool</a> for yourself.<br /><br />We couldn't have built this flu detection system without analyzing historical patterns. Because flu season is different every year, just a few months of data wouldn't have done the trick. For example, the 2003-2004 flu season was unusually severe in many regions. The data from that season was especially robust and allowed us to discover a more accurate, reliable set of flu-related terms. To learn more about how we built the system, see this page on <a href="http://www.google.org/about/flutrends/how.html">how Flu Trends works</a>.<br /><br />Because we're committed to protecting your privacy, we made sure that the searches that we analyze for Google Flu Trends are not drawn from personally-identifiable search histories but rather from an aggregated set of hundreds of billions of searches.<br /><br />In order to provide a rough geographic breakdown of potential flu outbreaks, we use IP address information from our <a href="http://www.google.com/privacy_faq.html#serverlogs">server logs</a> to make a best guess about where queries originate. To protect your privacy, we <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/another-step-to-protect-user-privacy.html">anonymize</a> those IP addresses at nine months. And we don't provide this aggregated, anonymized data to third parties. For more information about the privacy protections for Flu Trends check out our <a href="http://www.google.org/about/flutrends/faq.html">FAQs</a> and <a href="http://www.google.com/privacypolicy.html">privacy policy</a>.<br /><br />This is just the first launch in what we hope will be several public service applications of Google Trends in the future. And as we continue to think of ways to use aggregated and anonymized search data in helpful ways, we're also committed to <a href="http://www.google.com/intl/en/privacy.html">safeguarding</a> our users' privacy.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Pablo Chavez, Senior Policy Counsel</span>

How we help track flu trends

This post is the latest in an ongoing series about how we harness the data we collect to improve our products and services for our users. -...

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Tracking flu trends

Like many Googlers, we're fascinated by trends in online search queries. Whether you're interested in <a href="http://www.google.com/intl/en/trends/elections/">U.S. elections</a>, today's <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends">hot trends</a>, or each year's <a href="http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/zeitgeist/yearend.html">Zeitgeist</a>, patterns in Google search queries can be very informative. Last year, a small team of software engineers began to explore if we could go beyond simple trends and accurately model real-world phenomena using patterns in search queries. After meeting with the public health gurus on Google.org's <a href="http://www.google.org/predict.html">Predict and Prevent team</a>, we decided to focus on outbreaks of infectious disease, which are responsible for <a href="http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fncidod%2Feid%2Fvol11no04%2F04-1167-G1.htm&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFrqEzd5dpNCZOv4sqDG1EchqxQo5DVC6Q">millions of deaths</a> around the world each year. You've probably heard of one such disease: influenza, commonly known as "the flu," which is responsible for <a href="http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.who.int%2Fmediacentre%2Ffactsheets%2F2003%2Ffs211%2Fen%2F&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFrqEzdiBKLXp_cfNJbmkw6PZD7tvltWSQ">up to 500,000 deaths</a> worldwide each year. If you or your kids have ever caught the flu, you know just how awful it can be.<br /><br />Our team found that certain aggregated search queries tend to be very common during flu season each year. We compared these aggregated queries against data provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and we found that there's a very close relationship between the frequency of these search queries and the number of people who are experiencing flu-like symptoms each week. As a result, if we tally each day's flu-related search queries, we can estimate how many people have a flu-like illness. Based on this discovery, we have launched <a href="http://www.google.org/flutrends/">Google Flu Trends</a>, where you can find up-to-date influenza-related activity estimates for each of the 50 states in the U.S.<br /><br />The CDC does a great job of surveying real doctors and patients to accurately track the flu, so why bother with estimates from aggregated search queries? It turns out that traditional flu surveillance systems take 1-2 weeks to collect and release surveillance data, but Google search queries can be automatically counted very quickly. By making our flu estimates available each day, Google Flu Trends may provide an early-warning system for outbreaks of influenza.<br /><br />For epidemiologists, this is an exciting development, because early detection of a disease outbreak can reduce the number of people affected. If a new strain of influenza virus emerges under certain conditions, a pandemic could emerge and cause millions of deaths (as happened, for example, in <a href="http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSpanish_flu&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFrqEzeBgXCvIl8-_OCgiZioR0sQsm9TGQ">1918</a>). Our up-to-date influenza estimates may enable public health officials and health professionals to better respond to seasonal epidemics and — though we hope never to find out — pandemics.<br /><br />We shared our preliminary results with the Epidemiology and Prevention Branch of the Influenza Division at CDC throughout the 2007-2008 flu season, and together we saw that our search-based flu estimates had a consistently strong correlation with real CDC surveillance data. Our system is still very experimental, so anything is possible, but we're hoping to see similar correlations in the coming year.<br /><br />We couldn't have created such good models without aggregating hundreds of billions of individual searches going back to 2003. Of course, we're keenly aware of the trust that users place in us and of our responsibility to protect their privacy. Flu Trends can never be used to identify individual users because we rely on anonymized, aggregated counts of how often certain search queries occur each week. The patterns we observe in the data are only meaningful across large populations of Google search users.<br /><br />Flu season is here, so avoid becoming part of our statistics and get a flu shot! And keep an eye on those graphs if you're curious to see how the flu season unfolds...<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Update on 11/21</span>: The team just published an <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature07634.html">academic paper</a> in <span style="font-style: italic;">Nature</span>, the international journal of science, explaining the science and methodology behind Flu Trends. Check it out for more information.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Jeremy Ginsberg and Matt Mohebbi, Software Engineers</span>

Tracking flu trends

Like many Googlers, we're fascinated by trends in online search queries. Whether you're interested in U.S. elections , today's h...

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Is your house haunted by high energy prices?

Halloween is nearly upon us; the days are getting shorter and Google is gearing up for one of our favorite holidays. But as the temperature drops, the price you pay each month to power your home might start to make your blood run cold. Fear not! We've created a handy <a href="http://www.google.com/hauntedhouse08/index.html">energy saving calculator</a> to help you see how simple steps can help you save money for treats -- and ward off scary carbon emissions. We've also put together a <a href="http://www.google.com/hauntedhouse08/tips.html">webpage full of tricks</a> to help you save energy -- and money. (For inspiration for this idea, we want to thank the U.S. Department of Energy.)<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZYtf-kxKQOX-nQt0pjkGeQzE6NPrsqlqvT2IG2XEmxKi5nblAtAWPiCYiq6qTJnwBG1Ia2I2KE94OcXyrWN1RFP9wE4K6NK4sDM81NdXmH01BkIxhHDXfuCaNEXpGUrnF3fuEP1UgdxW8/s1600-h/treepumpkin.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259640287363844722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZYtf-kxKQOX-nQt0pjkGeQzE6NPrsqlqvT2IG2XEmxKi5nblAtAWPiCYiq6qTJnwBG1Ia2I2KE94OcXyrWN1RFP9wE4K6NK4sDM81NdXmH01BkIxhHDXfuCaNEXpGUrnF3fuEP1UgdxW8/s320/treepumpkin.gif" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a>It's the perfect time of year to talk about efficiency since many of the energy-wasters in our homes are named after the ghouls of Halloween. Our living rooms may be infested with "vampire" electronics that suck power even when turned off. And open chimney flues let the "ghosts" of winter steal our heat (not to mention the "monster" furnace that lives in the basement). By taking small steps to ward off these ghouls of inefficiency, you can save cold, hard cash. By <a href="http://hearth.com/econtent/index.php/wiki/Seal_Fireplace_Damper/">one estimate</a>, if the 80% of Americans who leave their fireplace flue open all winter all simply closed the damper, we could save over $6 billion a year. That's a lot of candy corn!<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by David Bercovich, Project Manager, and Dan Reicher, Director Climate Change & Energy Initiatives, Google.org</span>

Is your house haunted by high energy prices?

Halloween is nearly upon us; the days are getting shorter and Google is gearing up for one of our favorite holidays. But as the temperature ...

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Clean energy 2030

Right now the U.S. has a very real opportunity to transform our economy from one running on fossil fuels to one largely based on clean energy. We are developing the technologies and know-how to accomplish this. We can build whole new industries and create millions of new jobs. We can reduce energy costs, both at the gas pump and at home. We can improve our national security. And we can put a big dent in climate change. With strong leadership we could be moving forward on an aggressive but realistic timeline and an approach that balances costs with real economic gains.<br /><br /><br /><br />The energy team at Google has been crunching the numbers to see how we could greatly reduce fossil fuel use by 2030. <a href="http://knol.google.com/k/-/-/15x31uzlqeo5n/1#" id="t-lm" title="Our analysis">Our analysis</a>, led by Jeffery Greenblatt, suggests a potential path to weaning the U.S. off of coal and oil for electricity generation by 2030 (with some remaining use of natural gas as well as nuclear), and cutting oil use for cars by 40%. Al Gore has <a href="http://www.wecansolveit.org/" id="pewe" title="issued a challenge">issued a challenge</a> that is even more ambitious, getting us to carbon-free electricity even sooner. We hope the American public pushes our leaders to embrace it. T. Boone Pickens has weighed in with an interesting <a href="http://www.pickensplan.com/act/?c=Google&a=Pickens-Keywords&k=pickens+plan">plan</a> of his own to massively deploy wind energy, among other things. Other plans have also been developed in recent years that merit attention.<br /><br /><br /><br />Our goal in presenting this first iteration of the <a href="http://knol.google.com/k/-/-/15x31uzlqeo5n/1#" id="mazg" title="Clean Energy 2030 proposal">Clean Energy 2030 proposal</a> is to stimulate debate and we invite you to take a look and comment -- or offer an alternative approach if you disagree. With a new Administration and Congress -- and multiple energy-related imperatives -- this is an opportune, perhaps unprecedented, moment to move from plan to action.<br /><br /><br /><br />Over 22 years this plan could generate billions of dollars in savings and help create millions of green jobs. Many of these high quality, good-paying jobs will be in today's coal and oil producing states.<br /><br /><br /><br />To get there we need to move immediately on three fronts:<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">(1) Reduce demand by doing more with less</span><br /><br /><br /><br />We should start with the low-hanging fruit by reducing energy demand through energy efficiency -- adopting technologies and practices that allow us to do more with less. At Google, we've seen the benefits of this approach. We identified $5M in building efficiency investments with a 2.5 year payback. We've also <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/saving-electricity-one-data-center-at.html" id="v-5q" title="designed our own data centers to run more efficiently">designed our own data centers to run more efficiently</a>, and we believe they are the most efficient in the world. On a smaller scale, personal computers can also become much more efficient. A typical desktop PC wastes nearly half the power it consumes. Last year, Bill Weihl, our Green Energy Czar, worked with industry partners to create the <a href="http://www.climatesaverscomputing.org/" id="o.sr" title="Climate Savers Computing Initiative">Climate Savers Computing Initiative</a> to raise energy efficiency standards for personal computers and servers. If we meet our goals, these standards will cut energy consumption by the equivalent of 10-20 coal-fired power plants by 2010.<br /><br /><br /><br />Government can have a big impact on achieving greater efficiency. California's aggressive building codes, efficiency standards and utility programs have helped the state keep per-capita energy use flat for years, while consumption in much of the rest of the country has grown significantly. Enacting similar policies at the national level would help even more.<br /><br /><br /><br />We also need to give the American people opportunities to be more efficient. The way we buy electricity today is like going to a store without seeing prices: we pick what we want, and receive an unintelligible bill at the end of the month. When homes are equipped with smart meters and real-time pricing, research shows that energy use typically drops. Google is looking at ways that we can use our information technology and our reach to help increase awareness and bring better, real-time information to consumers.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">(2) Develop renewable energy that is cheaper than coal (RE<C)</span><br /><br /><br /><br />Google’s data centers draw from a U.S. electricity grid that relies on coal for 50% of its power. We want to help catalyze the development of renewable energy that is price-competitive with coal. At least three technologies show tremendous promise: wind, solar thermal, and advanced geothermal. Each of these is abundant and, when combined, could supply energy in virtually every region of the U.S.<br /><br /><br /><br />This year <a href="http://www.google.org/projects.html" id="lwhl" title="Google has invested">Google has invested</a> more than $45 million in startup companies with breakthrough wind, solar and geothermal technologies through our Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal initiative (<a href="http://www.google.org/rec.html" id="k.wh" title="RE<C">RE<C</a>), but that is a drop when we need a flood. We need to unleash massive private investment in clean energy. The government can have a big impact here as well. We must dramatically increase federal R&D and enact measures supporting the rapid deployment and scaling of clean technologies such as long-term tax support and national renewable energy standards. Tax credits for wind and solar have lapsed several times in the last 20 years, starving these nascent industries of the capital they need to truly enter the mainstream.<br /><br /><br /><br />We also must work both sides of the RE<C equation. Progress will accelerate when the price of carbon reflects its true costs to society. Putting a price on carbon through cap-and-trade or a carbon tax would help address this.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">(3) Electrify transportation and re-invent our electric grid</span><br /><br /><br /><br />Imagine driving a car that uses no gas and is less expensive to recharge than buying a latte. A "smart grid" allows you to charge when electricity is cheap, and maybe even make some money by selling unused power back to the grid when it's needed. Plug-in cars are on their way, with GM, Toyota and other manufacturers planning introductions in the next two years. At Google we have a small fleet of Toyota Prius and Ford Escape plug-in conversions, as a part of our <a href="http://www.google.org/recharge/">RechargeIT program</a>. The converted Prius plug-ins <a href="http://www.google.org/recharge/experiment/">get over 90 MPG</a>, and the Escapes close to 50 MPG. However, to successfully put millions of plug-in cars on the road and fuel them with green electricity, we need a smart grid that manages when we charge and how we're billed. A smart grid could also provide for the two-way flow of electricity, as well as large-scale integration of intermittent solar and wind energy. Much of the technology in our current electrical grid was developed in the 60s and is wasteful and not very smart. We are <a href="http://64.233.179.110/blog_resources/google_org_ge_energyfactsheet.pdf" target="_blank">partnering with GE</a> to help accelerate the development of the smart grid and support building new transmission lines to harness our nation's vast renewable energy resources.<br /><br /><br /><br />We see a huge opportunity for the nation to confront our energy challenges. In the process we will stimulate investment, create jobs, empower consumers and, by the way, help address climate change.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Dan Reicher, Director, Climate Change and Energy Initiatives, and Jeffery Greenblatt, Climate and Energy Technology Manager, Google.org</span>

Clean energy 2030

Right now the U.S. has a very real opportunity to transform our economy from one running on fossil fuels to one largely based on clean energ...

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Wiping out the next smallpox

<span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >The Internet has had an enormous impact on people's lives around the world in the ten years since Google's founding. It has changed politics, entertainment, culture, business, health care, the environment and just about every other topic you can think of. Which got us to thinking, what's going to happen in the next ten years? How will this phenomenal technology evolve, how will we adapt, and (more importantly) how will it adapt to us? We asked ten of our top experts this very question, and during September (our 10th anniversary month) we are presenting <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Google%20at%2010">their responses</a>. As computer scientist Alan Kay has famously observed, the best way to predict the future is to invent it, so we will be doing our best to make good on our experts' words every day. - Karen Wickre and Alan Eagle, series editors</span><br /><br />It took more than a village: it took the entire world -- people of all races, countries and religions -- to eradicate smallpox. The final naturally occurring cases of "Variola major" in Bangladesh in 1978 and "Variola minor" in Somalia in 1977 marked the end to a chain of suffering and early death dating back to the Biblical plagues, and to Pharoah Ramses, who died from the very same disease. Since then we have continued to face countless pandemics -- the Black Death, cholera, and now bird flu, SARS, HIV/AIDS and a new generation of zoonotic diseases -- diseases that, often because of changes in population or climate, jump from animals to humans. We can't be sure where the next smallpox will emerge, but we can be sure that it will take an effort larger than any single person or organization to defeat it.<br /><br />Today there are some real heroes working to check off two more diseases from the list. The <a href="http://www.polioeradication.org/" id="jc72" title="World Health Organization">World Health Organization</a> has led the charge against the highly infectious disease of polio. Along with UNICEF and dozens of NGOs, and millions of national and local health workers, members of <a href="http://www.rotary.org/en/EndPolio/Pages/ridefault.aspx" id="dh2w" title="Rotary International">Rotary International</a> and volunteers from moms to Mullahs have stepped up to the plate and contained polio so that hundreds, not millions, of kids are paralyzed annually, but we cannot consider the case closed until we erase the last case, in the last country. The <a href="http://www.cartercenter.org/homepage.html" id="dtrd" title="Carter Center">Carter Center</a> has also accomplished a tremendous feat by leading the effort to shrink the cases of Guinea worm to the tens of thousands from the millions. Just as it took 150,000 health workers -- the world's unsung heroes -- to make one billion house calls in India searching for hidden cases of smallpox, it will take collaboration on a global scale to track and eliminate the next pandemic.<br /><br />There is no Nobel Prize for "Preventing a Pandemic," and the hardest part about working in this field is imagining the unimaginable. What will be the next SARS, the next ebola, the next H5N1 bird flu? Epidemiologists try to "out think" the massive numbers of permutations and combinations that may give rise to the newest threat to our lives. Chances are a microbe capable of sweeping the globe will emerge in the next decade or two, and chances are it will cross to humans from an animal host (as did SARS, the Spanish flu, and HIV/AIDS). We need new ways to find these emerging threats earlier in the process, before thousands are infected and the epidemic spirals out of control.<br /><br />Google.org's <a href="http://www.google.org/predict.html" id="pkfr" title="Predict and Prevent">Predict and Prevent</a> initiative is working with partners to use digital, genomic and IT technology to identify "hot spots" of emerging threats and provide early warning before they become global crises. When you're fighting a pandemic, early detection and early response can be the difference between dozens and hundreds of millions infected. What better birthday present could we offer the world after our 20th year, than to say we joined hands with a global movement and helped prevent the next smallpox?<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Dr. Larry Brilliant, Google.org</span>

Wiping out the next smallpox

The Internet has had an enormous impact on people's lives around the world in the ten years since Google's founding. It has changed ...

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Building a future that's clean and green

<span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >The Internet has had an enormous impact on people's lives around the world in the ten years since Google's founding. It has changed politics, entertainment, culture, business, health care, the environment and just about every other topic you can think of. Which got us to thinking, what's going to happen in the next ten years? How will this phenomenal technology evolve, how will we adapt, and (more importantly) how will it adapt to us? We asked ten of our top experts this very question, and during September (our 10th anniversary month) we are presenting <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Google%20at%2010">their responses</a>. As computer scientist Alan Kay has famously observed, the best way to predict the future is to invent it, so we will be doing our best to make good on our experts' words every day. - Karen Wickre and Alan Eagle, series editors</span><br /><br />At Grist.org they have a saying about climate change: "A frog in water doesn't feel it boil in time. Dude, we are that frog."<br /><br />It isn't very Googley to stand on the sidelines – whether the challenge involves search, apps, or clean energy. So we're working to be part of the solution. Specifically, we have embraced the challenge of developing a gigawatt of renewable electricity that is cheaper than electricity from coal – in years, not decades.(We call it RE<C. Not only is it a cool, nerdy name for the project, it breaks HTML pages everywhere.)<br /><br />In ten years, we envision a cleaner, greener world -- running on wind, solar, and steam - with clean cars plugged into a clean grid. But for that vision to become real, the technologies to power it will have to be economically competitive -- otherwise they won't scale. So we are focusing much of our effort on technology innovation to drive down the costs of key renewable technologies. We are fundamentally optimists -- we believe that when innovative people focus on the right problems, they can find solutions. And when renewable energy is cheaper than fossil-based alternatives, and when plug-in hybrids are as cheap as traditional cars, they will take off in the marketplace.<br /><br />Our company founders, Larry and Sergey, are engineers and when they encouraged our team to tackle this issue we knew they would prefer a technological approach. This summer, we welcomed at our Mountain View headquarters the first Google engineers dedicated exclusively to exploring the development of utility-scale clean energy at a price cheaper than coal.<br /><br />But we need a thousand groups of engineers focused on developing renewable energy - not just the team we're building at Google. That means we need government to set the right incentives and regulatory environment to foster clean energy innovation and R&D. Our team is also working to advance a policy agenda that stimulates clean energy projects.<br /><br />We're getting the word out about tax credits, government research funding, renewable portfolio standards, and the limitations of our current transmission grid. Our philanthropic arm is doing its part too. The climate team at Google.org is working to complement the work of our engineering team with grants and investments in clean energy projects. To date, we've invested over $45 million in breakthrough technologies like solar thermal, advanced wind, and enhanced geothermal systems.<br /><br />It will take the concerted efforts of many -- but dude, we don't need to be that frog.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Bill Weihl, Green Energy Czar</span>

Building a future that's clean and green

The Internet has had an enormous impact on people's lives around the world in the ten years since Google's founding. It has changed ...

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Partnering with GE on clean energy

Today we announced that we're <a href="http://services.google.com/blog_resources/google_org_ge_energyfactsheet.pdf" id="d1_0" title="joining forces">joining forces</a> (PDF file) with <span style="border-collapse: collapse;">GE</span> to use technology, information and corporate resources to drive the changes necessary to empower consumers with better energy choices. We will focus on improving power generation, transmission and distribution – a combination of technologies that could be known as the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_grid" id="zkx7." title="smart grid">smart grid</a>." (It would be fair to refer to electricity technologies in common use today as a "grid of only average intelligence.")<br /><br />The existing U.S. infrastructure has not kept pace with the digital economy and the hundreds of technology opportunities that are ready for market. In fact, the way we generate and distribute electricity today is essentially the same as when Thomas Edison built the first <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison#Electric_power_distribution" id="ir8i" title="power plant">power plant</a> well over one hundred years ago. Americans should have the choice to drive more fuel efficient cars – or even electric cars - and manage their home energy use to reduce costs, and buy power from cleaner sources, or even generate their own power for sale to the grid.<br /><br />We all receive an electricity bill once a month that encourages little except prompt payment. What if, instead, we had access to real-time information about home energy use? What if our flat screen TVs, electronic equipment, lights and appliances were programmed to automatically adjust to save money and cut energy use? What if we could push a button and switch the source of our homes' electricity from fossil fuels to renewable energy? What if the car sitting in our garage ran on electricity – the equivalent of $1 per gallon gasoline – and was programmed to charge at night when electricity is cheapest?<br /><br />This vision is what unites Google and GE. We’ll start by working together in Washington, D.C. to mount a major policy effort to enable large-scale deployment of renewable energy generation in the United States. We’ll also work on development and deployment of the “smart” electricity grid that will empower consumers, utilities, and technology innovators to manage electricity more efficiently and lower their carbon footprint. Finally, we'll collaborate on advanced energy technologies, including technologies to enable the large-scale integration of <a href="http://www.google.org/recharge/" id="ft.c" title="plug-in vehicles">plug-in vehicles</a> into the grid and new geothermal energy technologies known as <span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span style="border-collapse: separate;"><a href="http://www.google.org/egs/" id="qcx6" title="enhanced geothermal systems">enhanced geothermal systems</a></span></span> (EGS).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy4qMKIeCLX3x4MU6AIT7-7PELlfHzPQeg5vMng08SPQGf6YT_b6UoEAGjaYFahCXVIndjHNKpp9MBcwKWsucktPdEjp9CHI4A9FWuyjx4Hz2NAJku_iDk5_gRBqgqpapwq1dVs5ZRJ5rF/s1600-h/IMG_1127.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247089224660681378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy4qMKIeCLX3x4MU6AIT7-7PELlfHzPQeg5vMng08SPQGf6YT_b6UoEAGjaYFahCXVIndjHNKpp9MBcwKWsucktPdEjp9CHI4A9FWuyjx4Hz2NAJku_iDk5_gRBqgqpapwq1dVs5ZRJ5rF/s320/IMG_1127.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Eric Schmidt with GE's CEO Jeff Immelt at Google's Zeitgeist conference</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Update:</span> Here's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsf6t5hSWDM">the video</a> of Eric Schmidt and Jeff Immelt's talk at Zeitgeist '08. Also, clarified the last sentence in the second paragraph.<br /><br /><span class="byline-author">Posted by Michael Terrell, Google.org</span>

Partnering with GE on clean energy

Today we announced that we're joining forces (PDF file) with GE to use technology, information and corporate resources to drive the ch...

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Plug-ins converge on Washington

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Michael Terrell, Program Manager, Google.org</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdjk2qjMUcrl8egifNHK5se0mOHcslO0icdwIQ7lFRtOWecLRf3YmxGa0ybp9EIGDakDhZJXbnDlBMWn8WfGp8643ycuSSgAWpx-WW0gPDj9mVOT2wxhKZf41u7HW0d_7WoBLDWJcVBa2t/s1600-h/Brookings+panel+photo.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5212598260249501170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdjk2qjMUcrl8egifNHK5se0mOHcslO0icdwIQ7lFRtOWecLRf3YmxGa0ybp9EIGDakDhZJXbnDlBMWn8WfGp8643ycuSSgAWpx-WW0gPDj9mVOT2wxhKZf41u7HW0d_7WoBLDWJcVBa2t/s400/Brookings+panel+photo.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a><br />Last week Google.org and the Brookings Institution hosted a two-day <a href="http://www.google.org/recharge/dcpluginsconference/index.html" id="pmd-" title="conference">conference</a> in Washington to showcase plug-in electric vehicles and examine how the government can support their widespread adoption. An impressive lineup of Members of Congress, auto and utility executives, and technology experts spoke to a packed house about the potential of plug-ins to reduce oil dependence, lower the cost of driving, and fight global warming. Between panels, participants were treated to a <a href="http://blog.google.org/2008/06/participants-plug-in.html" id="j:df" title="display">display</a> of the latest plug-in cars, including one of Google.org's <a href="http://www.google.org/recharge/" id="lclg" title="RechargeIT">RechargeIT cars</a>, an <a href="http://www.teslamotors.com/" id="oufb" title="electric sportscar">electric sportscar</a>, and <a href="http://gm-volt.com/" id="xibs" title="Detroit's answer">Detroit's answer</a> to high gas prices.<br /><br />There appeared to be overwhelming agreement that government <a href="http://blog.google.org/2008/06/plug-in-conference-highlights-day-2.html" id="jo32" title="leadership">leadership</a> is necessary to make this industry transformation a reality. (A recent <a href="http://blog.google.org/2008/06/survey-says-plug-in-washington.html" id="az43" title="poll">poll</a> commissioned by Google.org shows that voters agree.) A second theme was the need to modernize and green the power grid as the country moves toward electrifying transportation. But with gas prices at record highs and enthusiasm for the promise of electric cars growing, the feeling in Washington last week was that plug-ins' time has come.

Plug-ins converge on Washington

Posted by Michael Terrell, Program Manager, Google.org Last week Google.org and the Brookings Institution hosted a two-day conference in Wa...

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Google.org announces investment in BrightSource Energy

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Chris Busselle, Investments Manager and Kevin Chen, Green Energy Strategy<br /><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHSq9h3pDJp4X6PPRED9_fprPWAfHyIphHCmI-tYmfKZ6Y0xs37ZHDC_chVCinBjOLP3SXJUsU7DFQLy3YrOAG6RUfFNVGEh1dJJEm2aXVWrYVctLa3oNdnIZVkqg53lleK1NR9LTWmHeq/s1600-h/Pilot+Plant+Relection+cropped+3.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5200282150790709986" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHSq9h3pDJp4X6PPRED9_fprPWAfHyIphHCmI-tYmfKZ6Y0xs37ZHDC_chVCinBjOLP3SXJUsU7DFQLy3YrOAG6RUfFNVGEh1dJJEm2aXVWrYVctLa3oNdnIZVkqg53lleK1NR9LTWmHeq/s400/Pilot+Plant+Relection+cropped+3.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a><br />Today we are pleased to announce our participation in BrightSource Energy's $115 million venture <a href="http://www.brightsourceenergy.com/Release5-14-08.pdf">financing</a> with a $10 million equity investment as part of <a href="http://www.google.com/corporate/green/energy/">Google's RE<C initiative</a>.<br /><br />Solar thermal energy generation is one of the key emerging industries addressing the changing global climate and we are excited about both of our current investments in solar thermal technology -- <a href="http://www.brightsourceenergy.com/">BrightSource Energy</a> and <a href="http://www.esolar.com/">eSolar</a>.<br /><br />In addition to making investments in renewable energy startups, we plan to make grants to support the research and development of enabling technologies to help the solar thermal industry achieve larger scale and lower costs. We believe that by supporting researchers and entrepreneurs taking different, ambitious approaches and risks to generate clean energy, we can help to accelerate progress and increase the collective economic value of these new clean energy industries.<br /><br />We are also looking for a <a href="http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/answer.py?answer=81799&query=energy&topic=&type=energy">Head of Renewable Energy</a> to run our internal R&D effort, which is focused initially on solar thermal power, advanced wind technologies, and enhanced geothermal systems.

Google.org announces investment in BrightSource Energy

Posted by Chris Busselle, Investments Manager and Kevin Chen, Green Energy Strategy Today we are pleased to announce our participation in Br...

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Searching for solutions

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Sheryl Sandberg, VP, Global Online Sales & Operations</span><br /><br />Just over two years ago, I <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/10/about-googleorg.html" id="fijs" title="wrote here">wrote here</a> that we were taking a broad approach to philanthropy under the umbrella of Google.org. Today Google.org <a href="http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/pressrel/20080117_googleorg.html" id="qagv" title="announced">shared</a> its game plan, announcing five core initiatives to help combat climate change, global poverty and emerging threats such as pandemic disease. These initiatives draw upon Google's strengths in access to information and scalable technology. We'll use a range of approaches including grants, investments in for-profits and advocacy, and will continue to tap the experience of Google engineers and other team members.<br /><br />We're working alongside experienced partners to carry out these initiatives. For example, one of the initiatives is aimed at improving the quality of delivery of basic services, such as education or clean water. In rich countries we take it for granted that clean water comes out when we turn the tap, and our children learn to read when they go to school. But in many countries in the developing world, essential public services are not working, especially for the poor. Governments are investing huge sums -- to the tune of $700 billion -- to provide basic services, but the lack of two-way information flow inhibits the effectiveness of delivery and the ability of communities to hold providers accountable. The <a href="http://www.google.org/inform.html" id="phbx" title="Inform and Empower">Inform and Empower</a> initiative explores ways to bridge that gap. One of our partners is <a href="http://www.pratham.org/" id="qwa5" title="Pratham">Pratham</a>, a non-governmental organization (NGO) in India that creates the <a href="http://www.pratham.org/aserrep.php" id="zfs9" title="ASER Report">ASER Report</a>, a yearly nationwide survey on education outcomes. Their 2005 report provided data for the first time on basic reading and math skills for children in rural India. The report seeded a national conversation between governments, NGOs and private providers about the state of education and served as a catalyst for change. Our support will help expand their work to other sectors and potentially to other countries. <br /><br />Please visit <a href="http://www.google.org/" id="t42q" title="Google.org">Google.org</a> for more information on Inform and Empower and the other initiatives announced today.

Searching for solutions

Posted by Sheryl Sandberg, VP, Global Online Sales & Operations Just over two years ago, I wrote here that we were taking a broad appro...

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Team Aquaduct wins Innovate or Die competition

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Dan Reicher, Google.org team</span><br /><br />The contest said to "Innovate or Die" – and Team Aquaduct lives! In fact, the San Bruno, California team – consisting of John Lai, Adam Mack, Brian Mason, Eleanor Morgan, Paul Silberschatz – is living in grand (prize) style today after winning the <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/09/pour-on-pedal-power.html">first Innovate or Die Pedal-Powered Machine contest</a>.<br /><br />Team Aquaduct was declared the winner out of 102 entries by building a unique and functional solution to provide rural communities with access to clean water. The quintet will share the $5,000 grand prize, and each will receive a Specialized Globe bicycle – as will all five of the finalist runners-up (<a href="http://www.innovate-or-die.com/">read more about all the winners</a>).<br /><br />The contest encouraged people to evaluate environmental issues and develop ingenious solutions surrounding climate change. Many original and inspiring ideas emerged; make sure to visit the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/groups_videos?name=innovateordie">YouTube Innovate or Die page</a> to view all of the entries.<br /><br />And here's the video for Team Aquaduct's winning pedal-powered water transportation and filtration vehicle:<br /><br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-U-mvfjyiao&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-U-mvfjyiao&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object>

Team Aquaduct wins Innovate or Die competition

Posted by Dan Reicher, Google.org team The contest said to "Innovate or Die" – and Team Aquaduct lives! In fact, the San Bruno, Ca...

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Update on international climate negotiations

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Karen Wickre, Google Blog Team</span><br /><br />The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change reached agreement in Bali on Saturday on a roadmap to reach a new international climate change agreement. Several Google.org team members attended and have shared their thoughts on some of the themes of the conference: putting the <a href="http://blog.google.org/2007/12/putting-bali-roadmap-in-context.html">Bali roadmap in context</a>, <a href="http://blog.google.org/2007/12/demanding-climate-justice-in-bali.html" id="baxw" title="climate change and economic development">climate change and economic development</a>, <a href="http://blog.google.org/2007/12/laboratories-of-low-carbon-economy.html" id="ybht" title="government and corporate actions">local government actions</a>, and an <a href="http://blog.google.org/2007/12/global-climate-change-conference-kicks.html" id="wndr" title="introduction">introduction</a> to the negotiations. We hope you find these writeups informative.

Update on international climate negotiations

Posted by Karen Wickre, Google Blog Team The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change reached agreement in Bali on Saturday on ...

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