By Kerry Trueman

Google announced yesterday that it’s putting hundreds of millions of dollars into a project called Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal. The goal, according to Google co-founder Larry Page, “is to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal.” That’s enough energy to power the city of San Francisco, and Google’s looking to provide it through advanced solar thermal power, wind power, enhanced geothermal systems and other new technologies. It figures that we have to look to a forward-looking company like Google to move us beyond dirty old coal, which we still rely on to produce 40% of the world’s electricity. How Dickensian can you get?You can read more about Google’s commitment to clean energy here.