INTERNET - Google unveils its green dreams - The firm plans to spend 'hundreds of millions' to help the world end its reliance on coal.

The company unveiled a plan Tuesday to cut coal consumption by developing cheaper, renewable alternatives. Executives said Google's for-profit philanthropic subsidiary would spend "hundreds of millions" of dollars on the initiative, called RE<C, an equation that spells out "renewable energy cheaper than coal."

The cost of running Google's massive, electricity-sucking data centers was one motivation.

"It's very hard to find options that aren't coal-based or dirty technologies," co-founder Sergey Brin said at a news conference. "We don't feel good about being in that situation. . . . We want to make investments happen so there will be alternatives for us."

The company's data centers will become more energy intensive as Google pursues a plan to allow people to store their personal files on Google machines rather than on their personal computers, a move seen as a way to accelerate a shift to Web computing and step up competition with Microsoft Corp. Consumers would be able to access the files, such as documents or digital music, from different computers and mobile devices, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Google has taken steps to be environmentally friendly. Its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters draws about 30% of its electricity from one of the country's largest solar power installations. The company recently reduced by half the amount of energy its data centers use and helped start an industry group devoted to reducing the power that PCs devour. Google is also experimenting with plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

Co-founders Brin and Larry Page haven't been shy about their belief that they can harness technology to save money and the planet. Their conviction that climate change is responsible for poverty in developing countries reflects the influence of former Vice President Al Gore, a Google adviser who won a Nobel Prize for his efforts to warn about the threats of global warming.

Google's anti-coal initiative won some applause from energy experts. They called the plan modest, considering the magnitude of what Google sees as a problem: Coal generates about half of the country's electricity.

"It's a very good, positive step in the right direction," said Stuart Dalton of the Electric Power Research Institute in Palo Alto. "But this is not the only answer."