First year anniversary of green campaign sees strong year-one growth, aggressive emissions targets, improved energy use and dramatic cost savings.
Kuala Lumpur, May 19, 2006 -- GE today reiterated its commitment to both its business stakeholders and the environment with the release of its 2005 ecomagination report. The release was in conjunction with the first year anniversary of the campaign's launch.
The ecomagination report showed that revenues from the sale of energy efficient and environmentally advanced products and services hit USD10.1 billion (RM36.6 billion) in 2005, up from USD6.2 billion (RM22.4 billion) in 2004 -- with orders nearly doubling to USD17 billion (RM61.5 billion).
During the media briefing, Stuart Dean, President, GE Southeast Asia, said, "Ecomagination is paying off for our stakeholders and customers. Our advanced environmental products and services are helping customers increase their energy efficiency and reduce costs and emissions. And it is providing the growth we expected for GE - we are ahead of our plan to reach USD20 billion (RM72.4 billion) in annual sales of ecomagination products by 2010."
Launched in May 2005, ecomagination is GE's commitment to imagine and build innovative technologies that help customers address their environmental and financial needs and help GE grow.
"With oil prices and other energy costs surging and with water scarcity concerns spreading, ecomagination makes even more sense for our stakeholders today than it did a year ago," Dean said. "Last year, we said that 'green can be green' -- that we would make money helping customers meet their environmental challenges. A year later, we know that green is green, and that it will make a difference on the bottom line for GE investors as customer interest is accelerating," explained Dean.
"Malaysia is indeed fortunate to possess an environmentally conscious Prime Minister who has given increasing attention to environmental conservation," he added.
GE is also using ecomagination as a platform to improve the energy efficiency of its own operations, helping to lower costs. In 2004 and 2005, GE attacked higher energy expenditures by undertaking nearly 500 global energy conservation projects that resulted in more than 250,000 tons of GHG emissions reductions --the equivalent of removing nearly 50,000 cars from the road. These projects are yielding substantial energy cost savings.
The ecomagination report, "Taking on Big Challenges," details GE's progress in meeting its own challenges and the broader challenges faced by customers and society. The report reviews GE's performance on its four-ecomagination commitments and describes a long-term plan to meet these goals. Specifically, GE made the following progress on each of its ecomagination commitments in 2005:
"We're off to a good start and see even more opportunity -- but we still have a long way to go," Dean emphasized. "We continue to assess how to address customers' complex and mounting energy and environmental challenges, and strive to increase the energy efficiency of our own operations. Every day, we are collaborating with our customers and others to see where we can improve and drive growth."
GE has certified more than 30 ecomagination products, including GEnx engines, which represent a great leap forward in technology. Using an innovative Twin Annular Pre-swirl (TAPS) technology, this engine burns fuel cleanlier, while its composite fan blade and case design decreases weight and increases fuel efficiency.
Another ecomagination product is the compact fluorescent lightning, which produces energy savings of 70-75 percent. Both these products are available locally.
Other products available in the Malaysian market include high-efficiency gas turbines, and desalination through GE's reverse osmosis (RO) and electrodialysis reversal (ER) technologies, which produce water reliably and affordably.
"We are committed to the local environment and business stakeholders," explained Dean. "In fact, GE Energy landfill gas-to-energy plant in Malaysia, the nation's first such project, recently received first prize honors in the renewable energy project competition at the 2005 Asean Energy Ministers meeting in Seam Reap, Cambodia."
The landfill gas-energy project won first prize for "technical excellence" in the competition's on-grid category. The two containerized Jenbacher JGC 320 GS-LL generator sets for the Jana landfill plan was built for a Tenaga subsidiary.
The Jana landfill, located 40km outside of Kuala Lumpur, and one of the city's main municipal storage waste sites, is an important first step for the government, which is planning a series of similar projects to help the country supply 5% of its energy demands from renewable sources within the next several years.
"With more than 5,000 megawatts of installed capacity, including 1,000 megawatts utilizing landfill gas, Jenbacher gas engines have proven their ability to generate power efficiently and cost effectively across a wide range of fuels," Dean enthused.
"Utilizing 'free' fuel sources, that would otherwise be flared or vented, as is the case with the Jana site, provide a clear source of cost-effective power generation that countries can tap to meet their renewable energy goals."
GE's ecomagination report is available at http://www.ge.com/ecoreport. To encourage readers to save paper and read the report online, GE will plant a tree at its Peebles, Ohio jet engine testing facility for each of the first 2,500 downloads. These trees will help offset the generation of carbon dioxide associated with growth at the facility.
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GE (NYSE: GE) is a diversified technology, media and financial services company dedicated to creating products that make life better. From aircraft engines and power generation to financial services, medical imaging, television programming, and plastics, GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's Web site at http://www.ge.com.
GE's relationship with Malaysia began in 1975. Today, investments in Malaysia exceed RM1 billion, with more than 1, 200 Malaysians working for GE. GE works closely with local infrastructure providers, supplying equipment and services to TNB, Petronas, KTM and local water authorities. GE's Healthcare division supplies private and public hospitals with the latest diagnostic imaging equipment and healthcare information systems, while the company's lighting division supports key stadiums and ports. Visit http://www.ge.com/my/ for more information.
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