GE Sparks $25 Billion In 2012 Revenue From Ecomagination R&D Investments
GE’s investment in its Ecomagination program, which was launched in 2005, has generated a total of over $130 billion of revenue since then. Last year, it invested almost $2 billion in the program and got back $25 billion in revenue.
GE confirmed that the program even exceeded its goal of growing revenues at twice the rate of total company revenue within five years.
Of course, as part of all this, GE’s carbon footprint has been reduced considerably.
“GHG emissions were lowered to 4.88 million metric tons (MT) of CO2equivalents, a reduction of 32% from our adjusted 2004 baseline,” GE wrote in its Our Global Impact overview.
“In 2012, GE’s energy intensity improved 32% from the 2004 baseline year (measured as energy/$ revenue).”
“Ecomagination is the way GE works. It is embedded in our research, our product development and our operations,” said Deb Frodl, the global executive director of Ecomagination. “It has helped our customers save billions of dollars while significantly reducing their environmental impact.”
This is just another indication that “being greener” can actually mean much more in profits and financial benefit.
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The problem here is the mention in one of the videos of the “megatrend of natural gas.” If GE’s Ecoimagination division is relying on it, then, to some degree, it is likely making false claims about its emissions reductions. 43% of the natural gas consumed in the U.S. in 2012 was shale gas. The fugitive methane emissions from shale gas are between 4% and 9% of the total amount of shale gas that is produced from shale gas wells according to a recent study by NOAA. Even if one uses a far more efficient gas turbine with the added advantage of a combined cycle design, the total net carbon emissions may rival those of oil or coal or be even higher depending on the source of one’s natural gas. The GWP (global warming potential) of methane is 72 times higher than that of CO2 during the first 20 years that it is in the troposphere. Only such a 20 year time span—-not the CO2-based 100 year time span—-is relevant for methane emissions since most of the CH4 breaks down chemically in a little more than 8 years. Thus, Ecoimagination’s claims about “emissions reductions” and “reductions in carbon intensity” deriving from the use of natural gas may bear no relation to reality.