GE affirmed on Wednesday that amidst global economic turbulence, revenues from its range of energy efficient and environmentally advantageous products and services will surge 21 percent to $17 billion in 2008, while GE's annual investment in cleaner research and development will pass $1.4 billion. “There is a green lining among the current economic stormclouds and GE customers and investors are benefiting,” said GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt. “Cleaner innovation and technology resonate in the marketplace, while we slash our own energy and water costs and emissions, further strengthening GE's competitive position and the advantage GE offers to its customers. “GE will help build tomorrow's smart energy grid; help drive electric vehicles out of the labs and onto the world's roadways; and work to build advanced, cleaner energy production in the US, India, China, and the Middle East at mammoth scale,” Immelt added. “Nobody else can do this like GE can.” Introduced in May 2005, ecomagination is GE's commitment to conceive and construct pioneering technologies that help customers address their environmental and financial needs and help GE grow. GE forecast double investment in clean research and development, and will invest $1.4 billion in cleaner technology research and development in 2008, nearing its $1.5 billion annual ecomagination R&D target by 2010. GE has now 70 ecomagination-certified products, four times the size of the 2005 portfolio. New partnerships with Google (on development of the ‘Smart Grid') and projects like GE Global Research's rapid development of next generation renewable technologies are accelerating this process. __
