CEO Eric Schmidt chooses the CEF Annual Meeting to lay out Google’s 20-year plan to power the U.S. with renewable energy.

“What I see before us is the largest opportunity that I can imagine. It is an opportunity that solves energy security… and energy price. It will create jobs and investment. And it will solve the biggest problem facing the planet aside from nuclear proliferation - climate change.”

Attendees applauded loudly to the conclusion of CEO Eric Schmidt’s address as he debuted Google’s alternative energy plan at the inaugural Annual Meeting of the Corporate Eco Forum in San Francisco Monday night. The two hundred executives gathered for the two-day meeting represented companies with $2.3 trillion in revenue such as Coca Cola, General Motors, Microsoft, DuPont and Procter & Gamble.

The Google plan calls for the U.S. to use renewable energy to power all electricity and to cut automobile gasoline by half by 2030. If deployed, Schmidt says the plan would cut climate emissions by half. (Watch the complete keynote address on the CEF video page.)

The plan focuses on wind, solar and enhanced geothermal sources of energy. Google has already invested more than $20 million in wind and solar thermal development.

Other renewables (such as wave power, on which Google recently received a patent) will likely come online in the next few years as well but aren’t included in the plan because they aren’t yet as far along in their deployment and cost efficiency. The plan excludes nuclear power due to the “infinitely high” capital costs and energy security issues.

Schmidt underscored the potential for renewable energy development to boost the economy. Alternative energy will create thousands of both blue and white collar jobs domestically and will also create export industries for the U.S. “We have the best science and technology and research communities in the world. We can build export industries and get more revenue for our country.”

The price tag on the Google plan is a big one: $2.7 trillion. Yet Schmidt says the country will recoup $2.1 in savings. Estimating the present value of that savings would amount to $200 billion – a fraction of what the U.S. spends on oil.

“Even if you disagree with my methodology, there is a real opportunity right in front of us to actually solve this problem if people would stop arguing about all the minor issues and start talking about the fundamental opportunity which is to retool the energy infrastructure of the United States.”

Schmidt called for improved government support and understanding. He says federal R&D support is needed, as well as more state standards around renewable energy.

“We have a total failure of political leadership, at least in the United States and perhaps in the world on these issues,” Schmidt said. Instead of awarding the next U.S. economic stimulus package to the “usual suspects,” he urged officials to consider using the investment to rework the energy infrastructure.

Schmidt laid out the obstacles in the path of Google’s plan. He said a cap-and–trade system is needed. More critically, solving the “grid problem” is another tough challenge. Schmidt estimates the efficiency loss of the current grid at approximately 9 percent.

The keynote address capped the first day of the CEF Annual Meeting. The program featured general sessions with speakers such as Vinod Khosla, San Franciso mayor Gavin Newsom and Adam Werbach. Smaller, working groups tackled issues such as greening the supply chain, turning waste into profit and improving energy efficiency. The second day of the meeting featured more working groups, as well as speakers C.K. Prahalad, Mindy Lubber, Ray Lane and Tom Siebel.

Schmidt began his dinner speech with a display - both dazzling and concerning - by Google Earth. The display began by showing the room atop the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco where attendees gathered, and then zoomed back into space.

The views from Google Earth looked at the current and future predictions for the polar ice cap. It also highlighted the difference in forest density along the Mexico-Guatemala and Brazil-Uruguay borders, where national policies differ. The potential for a climate crisis was easy to see.

“It is time for everyone to get off their rear ends and seize the moment… A crisis is a terrible thing to waste,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt urged companies to focus on energy efficiency. Adding capabilities to monitor energy usage, improve fuel efficiency, revise building codes, raise technology efficiency standards and invest based on total cost of ownership are all proven strategies in the corporate world. Companies today are accumulating cash at a great rate, according to Schmidt, suggesting that these funds could be invested in energy and efficiency projects.

Google’s $5 million investment to reduce carbon emissions on its buildings only took 2.5 years to payback. Google is piloting a small fleet of hybrid cars that aims to prove that leveraging plug-in hybrid technology and e85 fuel can drive gas usage from 100 percent down to 3 percent.

The vehicle-to-grid potential was also cited as compelling. Schmidt believes that if plug-in car batteries could send their excess power back to the grid for peak power generation times, the model would be very similar to distributed computing, the Internet and the PC.

Schmidt challenged the room of Global 500 executives: “If you don’t like my plan, produce your own.”

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