Google Backs Biofuel

Google Ventures is investing in Cool Planet Energy Systems, a company aiming to produce cheap biofuels in its first commercial processing plant, according to reports.

Google, along with BP, ConocoPhillips and NRG, are investing in Cool Planet, a company that pants to replace gasoline with biofuel, GigaOm reported. The California company announced this week that it will create biofuels that will cost $1.50 a gallon at a new 10 million-gallon processing plant that will take around $50 million to build. Cool Planet wants an additional $50 million for production and other expenses.

The company wants the project built and ready to go by 2014, according to Cool Planet chief executive Howard Janzen. Although most biofuel plants are twice the size, Janzen said that the smaller size will cut costs and serve an area within a 30-mile radius.

This isn't the first time that Google has invested in green or cleaner energy. Last year, Google invested $168 million in a solar farm in the Mojave desert, and earlier this year the tech titan gave $100 million to an Oregon wind farm. The latest investment in biofuels is in keeping with Google's mission to promote green energy and there will likely be more to come.

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