Eric Schmidt spoke Tuesday before the New America Foundation in California, emphasizing that one key issue facing renewable energy development is an outdated energy grid that is not equipped to transport power from new sources.
In the speech, Reuters quoted Schmidt as saying that economic growth can be spurred by "infrastructure research and development and energy" and denounced the nation's dependence on foreign oil as "a huge drain" that has started a number of wars.
The news agency also noted that Schmidt, who has already been advising Obama, could end up becoming the next president's new chief technology officer.
Google has already been investing in various renewable energy technologies while also taking considerable steps to neutralize its own carbon footprint companywide. The company website notes that its Mountain View, California headquarters alone is powered with help from 9,212 solar panels.
The Obama campaign has said that its energy plan will help create five million new jobs by investing $150 billion in clean energy over the next decade, with an added goal of generating 10 percent of the nation's electricity from renewable sources by 2012.
