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Monday, June 18, 2007

What’s Google Recharge?

Google added the following two URLs to their robots.txt file, thus preventing access from crawlers:

Neither of the two pages results in a found file at this time, but I wonder if there’s a connection to tomorrow’s Google Press Day in Paris. The dictionary defines “recharge” as “To charge again, especially to reenergize a storage battery,” but what could Google Recharge be?

Update: The site was just announced now in a Google post (it’s on google.org, not .com).

RechargeIT is a Google.org initiative that aims to reduce CO2 emissions, cut oil use and stabilize the electrical grid by accelerating the adoption of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and vehicle-to-grid technology.

In an FAQ, Google writes that simply put, “a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle ... is a hybrid vehicle whose battery you can charge by plugging in to a standard 120 volt outlet at home or work. ... You get the benefits of short trip zero car emission travel coupled with extended range limited only by the availability of gas stations.” Google adds that plug-in hybrids aren’t commercially available yet. However, as USA Today quotes Google.org’s Dan Reicher, “Google is not going to get into the business of building and selling hybrid electrics. Our focus is on accelerating their developing through research, testing and investment.” A video at YouTube explains more.

In related news, Google announced they finished building a solar panel installation “producing clean, renewable electricity" for the Google HQ.

[Image courtesy of Google.]

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