General Electric gets aggressive in Green Energy through Ecomagination $10 Billion R&D Investment

General Electric or GE as it is popularly known is one of the biggest players in the Green Industry globally.It generated $18 billion in Ecomagination revenues in 2009 with $1.5 Billion in Investment.General Electric like other industrial conglomerates like Siemens,Areva and others are in fact low risk plays in the Green Investing sector.GE is strong across most of the Green Sectors today particularly in the area of Smart Grid and Energy Efficiency.Smart Grid are going to see increasing revenues and investments in the coming years driven by the following factors.

1) The need to improve the Efficiency of the Electric Grid which still uses Technology of a 100 years ago

2) The increasing penetration of intermittent sources of power like Wind and Solar Energy

3) The need to cut down on Greenhouse Emissions (GHG) by lowering Energy Use

General Electric has presence across all sectors of Green Energy

General Electric already has a big presence in the areas of Electricity Generation,Transmission and Distribution.It is one of the world’s largest producer of Wind Turbines and is also making its presence felt in the areas of Energy Storage like Sodium Sulfur batteries.It is also trying to enter the Solar Enery sector by buying up a Cadmium Tellurium (Cd Te) startup Prime Solar.Note this is the same technology being used by First Solar and upcoming startup Abound Solar.

General Electric to try and push ahead of rivals in Smart Grid as well

General Electric is competing against other giants like Cisco,Honeywell,Google,Microsoft and a host of startups to gain a leadership position in the nascent industry.GE had earlier announced a massive $10 billion investment into Green Research over the next 5 years after spending $5 billion from 2005-2009.It plans to double the revenue growth rate from its Green business compared t o the overall business.As part of the Ecomagination initiative,General  Electric announced 2 products in the Home Area Networks (HAN) and Electric Vehicle Charging . It also announced  a $200 million fund in partnership with Venture Capital (VC) firms to invest in innovative startups . GE hopes that this initiative will help leapfrog ahead of its rivals.Note Smart Grid is still in a early growth stage with applications still being developed.Beside Energy Demand Management,there has been no killer application in the Smart Grid area.Smart Meters are being deployed in increasing numbers all over the world,however the applications over this infrastructure are still to be developed on a mass scale.While Home Area Energy Management and other areas are being actively explored there are still to mature .

GE brings smart grid home with energy monitor, EV charger – Cnet

The industrial giant on Tuesday introduced two products–a home energy management system and electric vehicle charger–which are some of the most tangible aspects of what GE CEO Jeff Immelt on Tuesday called digital energy.Both the Nucleus energy monitor, which will cost between $149 and $199, and WattStation electric vehicle charging pedestal are expected to be available next year.

The Nucleus home energy monitor and energy management system is a small device, about the same size and shape as a mobile phone charger, which can monitor and control connected appliances. It will only work with a smart meter that uses the Zigbee wireless protocol, which means it will only be available to consumers who are customers of utilities that have installed and activated smart meters.The WattStation electric vehicle charging pedestal is made for charging electric vehicles for use in cities, university campuses, or businesses’ office parks.

GE Surpassed $5 Billion in Research & Development Investment in Ecomagination Technology – GE

GE announced today that it surpassed $5 billion in ecomagination research and development investment in 2009, one year ahead of schedule, and committed to invest an additional $10 billion by 2015.GE reported that revenues from its portfolio of energy efficient and environmentally advantageous products and services crossed $18 billion in 2009; GHG intensity was reduced 39% compared to 2004; and GHG emissions from GE operations were 22% lower than the 2004 baseline.

GE offers $200 million to crowdsource smart grid innovation; takes page from DARPA – SmartPlanet

Taking a page from the Pentagon’s research arm, General Electric on Tuesday announced a $200 million open innovation challenge seeking ideas for a better smart grid.Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt unveiled the Ecomagination challenge in a global broadcast, soliciting technologists, entrepreneurs and start-ups to share ideas that will help GE build a next-generation power grid.

“Green is green,” Immelt said. “We kinda think this is a good idea.”Immelt said the challenge was intended to accelerate progress by taking advantage of the best ideas from everywhere and combining them with GE’s ability to deploy them on a massive global scale.

GE places solar bets on thin-film cells – Cnet

General Electric, which has long made solar panels using traditional silicon, is converting to thin-film cells, using the same material as industry cost leader First Solar.The company’s research organization on Thursday detailed its activities with cadmium telluride solar cells, which the company has determined offers the most potential to lower solar power costs.As first reported by CNET, GE’s next-generation solar panels are based on technology from PrimeStar Solar, a Denver, Colo.-based company where GE is the majority owner. GE executives are bullish that by lowering costs, solar can grow rapidly, as its wind business has done.