Ikea, which is the biggest home furnishings chain in the world, has announced it’s making a big commitment to clean energy. The company has purchased a big wind farm in Scotland and plans to install almost 40,000 solar panels on its stores in the United Kingdom.

Ikea bought the 12.3 megawatt wind farm in Scotland as a way to promote clean energy use in its stores and facilities and it looks like that plan will work: the energy from that wind farm could generate 30% of the energy used by all of Ikea’s stores in the UK. And the solar panels will produce another 5% of the stores’ energy. Best of all, Ikea will end up saving money in the long-run by cutting down on all those energy bills!

Google has made some major commitments to clean energy, but the company's latest announcement might just be the biggest. Google is investing $100 million into a wind park in the U.S. state of Oregon. This isn't any ordinary wind park, either–it'll be the biggest in the world. It's called Shepherds Flat and it stretches over 30 square miles (around 640 acres) of land. The park is expected to generate 845 megawatts of energy, enough to power more than 200,000 homes. The company says Shepherds Flat will be done by 2012–only a year away!

 

Google also announced it's teaming up with the U.S. Department of Energy to help electric car drivers find the nearest charging station. Basically, the internet giant will use its "Google Maps" program to create an online database with all the spots where drivers can "fill up."

 

So far, Google has invested a total of $350 million in green energy projects. Is Google doing a good job? Or are there other companies out there that are making an even bigger commitment to fighting climate change?