Google, a leader of innovation in the digital economy, says that
without a private and public focus on innovation in renewables,
storage and electric vehicles, the cost of delaying the clean
energy economy could be in the trillions of dollars to the U.S.
Google released an analysis of the economic impact of clean
energy innovation today, modeling a variety of long-term
scenarios and their influence on GDP growth, a reduction in
energy costs and greenhouse gas reductions. They used McKinsey’s
Low Carbon Economics Tool, which provides models to assess the
macroeconomic impact of climate and energy policies. Based on
our modeling, we estimate that by 2030, innovation in the
modeled technologies alone could have a transformative impact on
the US, adding over $155 billion per year in GDP and 1.1 million
net jobs, while reducing household energy costs by $942 per
year, oil consumption by 1.1 billion barrels per year, and GHG
emissions by 13% relative to BAU. By 2050, annual gains in GDP
increase to $600 billion, ne