Google Gets Patent for Giant, Floating Data Center

Written by Ucilia Wang

Some brilliant minds at Google (GOOG) must have looked out at the vast Pacific Ocean not far from its headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. at one time and wondered: How can we harness ocean power to benefit mankind?

The answer, apparently, lies in a patent application approved by the U.S. Patent and Trade Office last month. The patent outlines engineering concepts for constructing a giant floating data center offshore that would be cooled and powered by ocean waves and currents.

Google's Patented Idea For a Floating Data Center

Source: Greentech Media/Google

Obtaining a patent doesn't mean Google will stake out a piece of watery real estate to build the data center any time soon. Harvesting ocean power is largely confined to pilot projects around the world. Engineering equipment that can efficiently covert energy and withstand saltwater corrosion and other weather elements are some of the major challenges facing the project.

But when much-heralded companies such as Google come up with fanciful concepts, they attract a lot of attention. Apple (AAPL), for example, created a furor of speculations earlier this year when its employees filed for a patent to put solar cells inside portable gadgets.

Google has patented the idea for a data center that draws electricity from systems using energy generated from waves, tides and/or currents. The company specifically talks about using Pelamis machines, developed by Scottish firm, Pelamis Wave Power, as a way to build the power systems.