GE Citizenship

A Cleaner Tomorrow

At GE Energy, our heritage and our commitment is to keep imagination at work … to keep working on the technology that will lead the way to a cleaner tomorrow. From highly flexible and efficient gas turbines and wind power to solar technologies and smart-grid solutions, we are at the frontier of new energy technologies that will help us achieve that goal.

Natural Gas

GE Energy recognizes natural gas as a clean, abundant, secure and affordable source of primary energy, and endorses the safer and more environmentally responsible development of unconventional gas resources. GE Energy supports:

1. Increased transparency by the unconventional gas industry to enhance understanding of the impacts of production;
2. Continued development and implementation of industry best practices to mitigate environmental concerns;
3. Reasonable and protective regulations that promote the adoption of advanced technologies that can be efficiently implemented with appropriate reviews and approvals; and
4. Collaboration among government, industry, nongovernmental organizations, universities and the private research community to develop and deploy additional technologies and cost-effective best practices and regulations to minimize potential environmental concerns.

Wind Energy

GE Energy celebrates our first decade in wind. Since GE Energy entered the wind industry through an acquisition in 2002, we have installed 18,000 wind turbines and grown our business from 500 megawatts (MW) to 28 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity. This year, GE Energy expects our wind turbines installed base to exceed 20,000 worldwide. Over the last decade, nearly one of every two wind turbines installed in the U.S. has been a GE Energy wind turbine.

Distributed Generation and CHP

Distributed Generation and Combined Heat and Power offer a large, untapped potential for the development of highly efficient combined heat and power (CHP) and waste heat to power (WH2P) in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. These technologies are not fully understood, and are often overlooked as a means to reduce primary energy input, optimize existing primary energy infrastructure, increase efficiency and reduce harmful emissions.

GE Energy works to increase awareness of CHP and WH2P energy technologies. We promote the inclusion of WH2P, which adds power while creating no new emissions.

FlexEfficient Power

GE Energy has developed new, advanced FlexEfficient gas turbine power-generation technology that can quickly adjust its power output to better match the variable power produced by renewable sources. By integrating advanced aircraft engine technology into the heart of a power plant, we have developed a gas turbine that maintains record-high efficiency and low emissions at lower output levels. This technology will be a game changer.

Advanced FlexEfficient gas turbine technology will enable the global electric power sector to take maximum advantage of abundant natural gas resources to deliver cleaner, highly reliable and affordable power to consumers and industrial users.

Water Technology

Adequate access to clean water is fundamental to the health and well-being of every human, critical to a well-functioning economy, and vital for social and political stability. Today, more than 1 billion people lack sufficient drinking water, with untold economic, political and social costs. By mid-century, this number could rise to more than 4 billion. 

GE Energy believes that it is incumbent upon governments to prioritize the creation and implementation of water policies that will ensure that every person has adequate access to clean water and that water becomes a driver, rather than an impediment, of economic and social development.

Energy Management

GE has a comprehensive energy-management portfolio that enables intelligent energy transmission and distribution. GE’s tools help utilities and consumers better manage assets and resources by converting data into knowledge that decision-makers use to drive greater efficiency and productivity.

Global Trade

Rising global energy demand and mounting concerns over climate change and energy dependence have sparked tremendous growth in the trade of environmental goods and services (EGS). Such trade entails the international sale of renewable, energy-efficient and low-emissions technologies, and the services associated with each. Despite the growing demand for these technologies and services, EGS trade is hampered by significant tariff and non-tariff barriers. These barriers impose unnecessary costs and cumbersome regulatory requirements, which together limit the potential role of EGS projects in supporting economic development and environmental improvements.

The G8 recognized the importance of unencumbered EGS trade in 2010 when it declared, “[t]he elimination or reduction of tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade in environmental goods and services is essential to promote the dissemination of cleaner, low-carbon energy technologies and associated services worldwide.” Governments have taken some important steps to liberalize EGS trade. However, additional measures are needed to support the broader deployment of these technologies and services.

GE Energy Supports Adoption of EGS Provisions

Governments should negotiate and adopt EGS provisions within both existing and new multilateral, plurilateral and bilateral trade agreements. Such provisions should commit parties to refrain from imposing trade restrictions on those technologies and services that support the cleaner or more efficient production, distribution and consumption of electricity, heat or water. All technologies and processes that make substantial contributions to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared with conventional technologies should be included under this umbrella.

Specifically, GE Energy supports the negotiation and adoption of EGS provisions that achieve the following:

1. Elimination of tariffs on environmental goods. Governments should immediately eliminate tariffs for key environmental goods, including cleaner-energy and water technologies, in order to facilitate investment and lower costs to end users. The Peterson Institute for International Economics published a study in June 2010 that found that elimination of tariffs on environmental goods would increase global economic output by $5 billion and greatly promote the development of cleaner-energy projects. Specific technologies and services targeted for tariff elimination should include those identified by the World Trade Organization’s “153 List” of environmentally friendly goods, as well as other advanced technologies and associated services that support the more efficient production, delivery and consumption of electricity, heat or water. For example, both high-efficiency gas turbines and natural gas or biogas-fueled reciprocating engines should be included in any agreement to eliminate tariffs on environmental goods.
2. Mitigation of non-tariff barriers on EGS. While eliminating tariffs is essential, it is only a start. Non-tariff measures frequently impose even greater restrictions on the international deployment of environmental goods and services. Such barriers include local content requirements, offset requirements, discriminatory preferences that favor state-owned enterprises, and standards designed to shield local producers from competition. Non-tariff barriers discourage trade and investment in EGS, often most acutely in those countries with the greatest need for energy-infrastructure development. Removal of these barriers can promote greater investment, and in the case of standards harmonization, can result in improved safety and lower costs to end users.
3. Movement of highly qualified staff for temporary assignments. Trade agreements should include provisions to facilitate the temporary transborder movement of highly skilled energy services personnel to perform critical servicing or repair functions. Such functions would include the commissioning of new plants or equipment; the auditing of energy facilities to ensure regulatory compliance with standards; and the installation, dismantling, transfer, repair, upgrade or maintenance of equipment and processes.
4. Protection of intellectual property rights. Trade agreements should also feature provisions to ensure continuing improvement in the protection of intellectual property, most notably trade secrets. This should also include government commitments to avoid or remove measures that erode protections, such as compulsory licensing of low-carbon technologies. Such protections are an essential incentive for innovation.