The staff of Fortune and a panel of experts recently named 50 companies to its 2016 Change the World list. General Electric is one of them.
It’s been more than a decade since GE (GE) launched its massive renewable business strategy, Ecomagination, with a pledge to double down on clean tech and generate $20 billion in annual revenue from green products. The ensuing 11 years have proved Ecomagination was more than just a PR ploy. Through the end of 2015, GE had invested $17 billion in clean tech R&D through Ecomagination while generating $232 billion in revenue from its products.
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Last year, GE Transportation began manufacturing its Evolution Series Tier 4 Locomotive, which the company says will reduce emissions by more than 70% from the previous model. Through Ecomagination, GE also launched a concept called the Digital Wind Farm, which says it can boost a wind farm’s energy production by 20%. It uses GE’s Predix operating system, which monitors turbine performance and uses predictive analytics to find the best way to align the turbines. Ecomagination’s decade-long manufacturing of energy-efficient technologies like these – along with the acquisition of Alstom’s power division last year – has now made GE responsible for about one-third of the world’s electricity capacity, making its commitment to clean energy a critical step for the future.
Listen to this podcast with Beth Comstock – Vice Chair of Business Innovations at General Electric.
A version of this article appears in Fortune’s September 1 issue as part of the Fortune Change the World list, our annual ranking of major companies whose business activities are having a positive social impact. Click here to see the entire package.
