GE extends environmental leadership by achieving first ecomagination commitment

In 2005 GE made a series of ecomagination commitments to be achieved sequentially in the years 2008, 2010 and 2012. The first commitment was to reduce its operational greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity 30% in 2008. The Company surpassed this goal by reducing GHG intensity 41%.

Greenhouse gas intensity is the ratio of greenhouse gas emissions to Company revenue. GE also has reduced its absolute GHG emissions 13% and improved its energy efficiency 37% since 2005, keeping on track to meet its 2012 operational commitments in these areas.

With the release of the 2008 ecomagination annual report, GE also announced that it increased its portfolio of ecomagination products and services by one-third, to 80; grew revenues of ecomagination offerings 21%, to $17bn; and increased its investment in the research and development of clean tech solutions 27%, to $1.4bn.

"Leading by example is the essence of ecomagination. When we made a series of bold commitments at the outset, we felt a commitment to reduce our own greenhouse gas emissions was the best way to demonstrate that leadership. If we are proposing that customers around the world use GE solutions to reduce their emissions, then we should do the same. We set our first ecomagination goal to achieve at least a 30% reduction in our own GHG intensity for 2008 in order to show our progress, before our 2010 target on revenues from ecomagination sales to our customers."

said Steve Fludder, vice president and leader of ecomagination at GE.

GE surpassed its first ecomagination commitment by transforming its own operations while using its own products, and saving money at the same time. GE is seeing strong interest and similar impact with its customers across all industries to deploy ecomagination products and services.

GE was able to achieve its first GHG-related commitment by migrating to less GHG-intensive fuels, utilization of GE's own ecomagination technology such as solar panels, advanced lighting products and Jenbacher engines, improving the energy efficiency of its production operations, and integrating GHG as a facility management objective.

"We said we would reduce our own greenhouse gas footprint, and we did," said Fludder. "Ecomagination is all about leadership and innovation. These ecomagination solutions work for us, and they work for our customers. We use our own innovative technology and our lean six sigma process excellence to improve our energy efficiency, reduce waste and save money at the same time. This is leadership, when we ourselves embrace the same GE solutions, which we propose our customers employ to reduce their environmental footprint and operating cost. It's a win-win."

Progress on GE ecomagination Commitments

GE made the following progress on each of its ecomagination commitments in 2008:

1. Double investment in clean research and development

- GE invested $1.4bn in cleaner technology research and development in 2008, up from $750m in 2005, and is quickly approaching its $1.5bn annual ecomagination R&D target by 2010.

2. Increase revenues from ecomagination products

- GE reported $17bn in revenues from ecomagination products and services in 2008, an increase of 21% over the prior year. Despite the tough economic environment, GE is striving toward a stretch target of $25bn in annual sales by 2010. GE also increased the number of ecomagination products in its portfolio from 17 products in 2005 to more than 80 products today.

3. Reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve the energy efficiency of its operations

- GE met its first ecomagination goal by reducing GHG intensity 41% compared to 2004, surpassing the goal of 30% in 2008. In 2008, GE's GHG emissions from operations were 13% lower than the 2004 baseline - ahead of GE's commitment to reduce its GHG emissions 1% by 2012. And GE has reduced its energy intensity 37% compared to 2004, on track to exceed its goal to improve energy efficiency 30% by the end of 2012.

4. Reduce water use and improve water reuse

- In May of 2008, GE announced its commitment to reduce water consumption 20% by 2012. GE's water use was flat in 2008. The company developed a detailed plan to execute our water reduction projects.

5. Keep the public informed

- GE continues to inform the public of the Company's progress via a refreshed ecomagination web site at www.ecomagination.com, advertising, dozens of global conferences, stakeholder events, work with its ecomagination Advisory Board, and new public-policy engagements, including the historic "Blueprint for Climate Action" delivered by U.S. Climate Action Partnership.