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FAIRFIELD, CT — Ecomagination continues to pay big dividends for General Electric, according to its just-released sustainability report.
After investing $5 billion in ecomagination products since 2005 -- and growing the portfolio from 17 products to 90 -- GE earned $18 billion in revenue on ecomagination products in 2009. Ecomagination revenue accounted for 28 percent of the company's product revenue, and its success has led the company to greatly increase its investment in the coming years, putting an additional $10 billion in R&D investments in ecomagination by 2015.
With its sixth annual report, entitled "Renewing Responsibilities," GE set a goal of growing ecomagination revenues twice as fast as the company itself grows.
Of course, in the wake of the Great Recession, the company isn't necessarily growing that fast -- revenues in 2009 declined by 14 percent -- but ecomagination revenues were up 6 percent in 2009.
Despite the economic hit GE has taken, the companies overarching environmental initiatives are having an even larger impact on its footprint: Its overall intensities in water use, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions are down more than 30 percent each, with emissions intensity down 39 percent and overall emissions down 22 percent.
GE continues to set ambitious environmental goals on its intensities -- the amount of resources used per million dollars of revenue -- including a goal of 50 percent reductions in energy intensity from its 2004 baseline, a 25 percent reduction in emissions over a 2004 baseline, and a 30 percent reduction in water intensity over a 2006 baseline.
The full report is available online and in downloadable format from GE.com/Citizenship.
Building photo CC-licensed by Wonderlane.
I keep waiting for some of
I keep waiting for some of GE's consumer-oriented eco-green energy products like their home energy dashboard, to become available for retrofit use rather than just for customers of newly constructed luxury homes. Sustainability will require retrofitting existing housing stock for efficiency, and because knowledge is power, I believe it's one of the big low-hanging fruit items for conservation right now.
The cool thing about GE's product is it integrates with on-site distributed renewable energy add-ons that GE also can provide, such as PV or wind, as well as HVAC systems, etc.
Reality is that most contractors out there still aren't ready for new sustainable construction techniques, but we have to start (and continue bootstrapping from) somewhere.
But of course. GE has a
But of course. GE has a portfolio of businesses that continue benefit from the stimulus package, new regulations, and taxpayer spending. Plus, GE Capital is a significant participant in the commercial paper market, which is subsidized by taxpayers through the federal reserve in a galling bit of corporate welfare. GE is no model. not even a little bit.