Tech giant Google is investing heavily in green (renewable) energy because the bottom-line results of its investments are supported by data, Google's director of energy & sustainability Rick Needham said.

Speaking at the Cleantech Forum in San Francisco, Needham said that while prices of fossil fuels were going up, renewable prices were on the decline.

Speaking on the topic, he said, "Fossil-based prices are on a cost curve that goes up, renewable prices are on this march downward."

Stressing on the benefits of technology, he pointed to fracking that has dragged down the cost of gas in several regions.

He said that while the fossil industry revolved around using technology to tap hard-to-extract resources, the renewable industry revolved around developing & mass manufacturing technology-efficient turbines and solar panels to harvest boundless natural resources.

Needham also shared data showing that nearly half (49 per cent) of the new capacity commissioned in the US last year was renewable, 40 per cent of which came from wind.

Solar energy will soon start enjoying cost parity with conventional energy in several markets in the world. In the US, the levelized cost of energy from solar plants fell 28 per cent in the past year, while prices of solar panels slipped a whopping 80 per cent over the last five-year period.