One way it looks to meet this goal is by buying and using carbon credits. The company also has a massive solar power station producing 1.6-megawatts at its corporate headquarters. The problem for Google is being able to get enough green power in the areas where it operates to meet the needs of its data centers and other operations.

Google's Niki Fenwick said, "Right now, we can't buy affordable, utility-scale, renewable energy in our markets. We want to buy the highest quality, most affordable renewable energy wherever we can and use the green credits."

Google has created a new subsidiary called Google Energy and has filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to be able to buy and sell electricity on the wholesale market. The Google Energy subsidiary was formed on December 16, 2009 reports CNET. The ability to buy and sell wholesale energy will give Google the capability of purchasing much larger amounts of renewable energy to offset the power it uses across its operations.

Fenwick said, "We don't have any concrete plans [for buying and selling energy]. We want the ability to buy and sell electricity in case it becomes part of our portfolio."

Google is already active in green projects and funds some projects through its Google.org arm. Google.org is the arm of the search giant that developed and sought partners for the new PowerMeter smart meters that will save electricity and money for homeowners. CNET cites experts saying that for a company outside of the electricity industry to buy and sell electricity is a highly unusual move.