Google.org is the charitable arm of Internet search engine company Google. The organization has committed over $100 million in investments and grants as of May 2010. To fund the organization, Google granted them 3 million shares during their initial public offering. As of March 2012, Google.org's 3 million shares have an approximate value of $1.84 billion. Google has also pledged to contribute one percent of their annual profits to their charitable organizations. Among its first projects is to develop a mass-produced plug-in hybrid electric vehicle that can attain 100 mpg. In November 2007, Google.org announced RE<C, a project that will invest upwards of several hundred million dollars in order to produce renewable energy at a profit from wind and solar sources, particularly solar thermal energy. RE<C has the ultimate goal of creating more than a gigawatt of power from renewable sources that would be cheaper than energy produced from coal. The director from 2006 until 2009 was Dr. Larry Brilliant. Upon stepping down, Brilliant was replaced by Megan Smith, Google's Vice-President of new business development, and the organization began focusing on creating engineering solutions to global problems with projects such as Google Flu Trends and Crisis Response, an effort to respond to natural disasters. Wikipedia [ - ]

Google.org is the charitable arm of Internet search engine company Google. The organization has... [ + ]