One of the world's biggest companies, General Electric (GE) is to invest a further $10 billion in its "ecomagination" research and development scheme by 2020
Since the launch of ecomagination in 2005, GE has invested $25 billion in the programme, which focuses on designing and developing cleaner and more efficient technologies.
GE chief executive and chair Jeff Immelt outlined some of the projects that would receive research funding at the US energy 2020 summit.
He said the money would be spent on:
- searching for alternative technologies to replace the water that forms the basis of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”;
- cutting the wasteful flaring of natural gas; systems to reduce the cost of wind power, while simultaneously increasing wind turbine output; and
- ways to make existing power plants more efficient.
According to Immelt, ecomagination has generated revenues totalling $160 billion over the past nine years. Meanwhile, he reported that GE operations had reduced overall greenhouse-gas emissions by 34% since 2004, and freshwater use by 47% since 2006.
Read more about GE's ecomagination programme
