Using Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, the Mountain View, California company awarded a $1 million-grant for hybrid electric vehicle development and plans on offering up to $10 million in grants to support the vehicles.  The RechargeIT initiative "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."  

Companies and universities interested in the grant money for alternative transportation research will have to present official proposals to Google later this summer.

"Climate Change:  mitigate the effect of climate change on the poor by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving energy efficiency, and supporting clean energy sources," is published on the front page of the official Google.org web site.

The $1 million grant was offered to help support the development and adoption of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.  Plug-in cars are different than other clean-cars because regular hybrids use battery power but still rely on combustion engines -- plug-in cars are able to utilize electric power for up to 30 miles before having to rely on a gas engine.

Several companies -- including Toyota, Honda and General Motors -- are actively working on plug-in hybrid vehicles.  

In other environmental news, Google recently turned on the solar panels which cover much of the roof tops on the company's Mountain View corporate campus.  The panels are able to produce up to 1.6 megawatts of energy, which is enough to offer as much as one-third of the entire campuses energy use.  

Google previously announced a coalition of companies and organizations that plan to help save energy and reduce greenhouse gases.