Big Tech drove record clean energy purchases in 2021

Solar panels sit on the roof of Google headquarters in Mountain View.
Solar panels sit on the roof of Google headquarters in Mountain View. | Photo by Kimberly White/Corbis via Getty Images

Tech companies drove a surge in corporate purchases of clean energy last year, according to a new analysis by BloombergNEF.

Overall, corporations bought a record 31.1 GW of clean energy in 2021, equivalent to more than 10 percent of all new renewable energy capacity added worldwide that year. Over half of the power purchase agreements for clean energy made by corporations were signed by tech giants, including Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and Google.

Agreements with utilities or developers to purchase enough clean power to match annual electricity use are one strategy that companies use to claim they are running their operations on 100 percent clean energy. In reality, that clean energy usually isn’t flowing directly into corporate offices…

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Author: Justine Calma

Google adds National Domestic Violence Hotline to search results

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Google search results for domestic violence-related topics now show a box with contact information for the National Domestic Violence Hotline, the tech giant and the hotline announced today.

Searching terms like “domestic violence” and “boyfriend hit me” in the United States generates the box, which includes the phone number for the hotline, a direct link to the online chat services, and a direct link to place a call. “This will help survivors, especially those in crisis, get the information and connection to the 24/7 support they need quickly and with less scrolling,” said Crystal Justice, chief external affairs officer at The National Domestic Violence Hotline, in a blog post.

This box appears in searches for…

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Author: Nicole Wetsman

Cruise launches public waitlist for its robotaxis in San Francisco

GM Robot Car Cruise
Photo by Andrej Sokolow/picture alliance via Getty Images

Cruise, the self-driving company backed by General Motors and Honda, announced a public waitlist for its robotaxi service in San Francisco. It’s a significant step for the company that has previously been beset by delays in its quest to get paying customers into its autonomous ride-hailing vehicles.

The rides will be free to start out, as Cruise has yet to be approved to accept paid rides. The company, which has previously only allowed employees to ride in its autonomous vehicles, says it has tested the waters with a few of its first non-employee customers, including GM CEO Mary Barra, as well as a few non-employees.

According to Cruise:

We’re also opening a public waitlist at www.getcruise.com for when we’re ready to offer even more…

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Author: Andrew J. Hawkins