General Electric has signed on as a partner in Masdar City, committing to build an Ecomagination Centre in the world's first carbon neutral, zero waste, renewable-energy-powered city.
Masdar City is a $20 billion, seven-year project in development in Abu Dhabi, which just this weekend hosted the World Future Energy Summit. The city is part of Abu Dhabi's wider Masdar Initiative, aimed at making the country a world leader in sustainability-related research, technology and knowledge.
GE's Ecomagination Centre, named after the company's ecomagination initiative and products which most recently topped $17 billion in annual sales, will support research and development of products in the region, raise awareness of energy conservation and help deploy, scale and market products and solutions related to energy efficiency and renewable energy.
The Centre will also showcase GE technologies, ranging from renewable solar and wind technologies to water purification to home appliances. GE's inclusion in Masdar City is an outgrowth of a strategic partnership signed with Mubadala Development Company, the investment company behind Masdar, in July 2008.
The 4,000 square meter Centre will be located near the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology of Abu Dhabi, an energy-focused graduate school developed in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
[Editor's note: this article was updated to reflect the fact that ecomagination products have topped $17 billion in sales, not $17 million as originally reported.]