ge

An innovative concept for the carport of the future was unveiled in Plainville, Conn., this morning.

Conn. Governor Dannel Malloy and GE Energy Industrial Solutions CEO Luis Ramírez unveiled the GE EV Solar Carport, a carport that incorporates solar panels on its roof with electric vehicle charging stations under its cover.

GE partnered with Inovateus Solar, which installed the solar carport.

The solar panels on the carport will produce enough electricity per year to power the equivalent of 20 homes. Not every space in the lot will have an EV station. The solar panels on the carport will … Read more

At a Paris event on Wednesday, GE announced a new gas-fuelled power plant it says offers more flexibility and efficiency than many other options currently available.

The FlexEfficiency 50 Combined Cycle Power Plant is rated at 510 megawatts, has a base-load efficiency of more than 60 percent, and, when fully operational, can provide enough energy to power more than 600,000 European homes, according to GE. The plant is built to incorporate fluctuating power sources like wind and solar, as well as a main source of natural gas, the company said.

"The FlexEfficiency 50 plant is engineered for flexible operation by integrating a next-generation 9FB gas turbine that operates at 50Hz, which is the power frequency that is most used in countries around the world; a 109D-14 steam turbine, which runs on the waste heat produced by the gas turbine; GE's advanced W28 generator; a Mark VIe integrated control system that links all of the technologies; and a heat recovery steam generator," GE said in a statement.

GE says the plant also conforms to the EU's strict plant emissions standards for NOx and CO2.

The plant represents $500 million in research and development and came out of GE's Ecomagination program to develop clean-energy projects. GE announced in June 2010 that it planned to invest $10 billion over five years in green-focused research and development.… Read more

General Electric next week will show off overhead LED light fixtures designed to replace florescent tubes with thin, flat plates of light.

The company tomorrow is expected to announce the line of LED Edge lighting fixtures that can be suspended from ceilings or recessed flush with ceiling tiles. The first of the products, a square troffer fixture design for recessed lighting, will be available by the end of this year. More stylish suspended fixtures are slated for release in the first half of next year.

The four fixtures are built around coin-size LED light sources and a textured optical screen … Read more

Where exactly is the pituitary gland? You can find out with a new 3D body visualization site launched by Healthline Networks and GE Healthymagination that also works as a search engine.

The Healthline BodyMaps site lets users mouse over male or female bodies; rotate them in 360 degrees and click on various tissues and organs; and see various inner systems such as muscular, neurological, and skeletal.

For instance, the circulatory map includes a drop-down list of anatomical terms. Clicking on the heart leads to an enlarged image of the organ, from which you can click on its chambers and arteries to get relevant info.

You can also search for anatomical terms and read related articles on symptoms or treatments, as well as share info with friends. The site is the first of its kind available to all Internet users, according to the developers. Unlike Google Body, the site does not require WebGL. … Read more

General Electric may have grown its clean-tech business fourfold over the past six years, but Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt wishes he had spent a little less time talking about it.

The head of the largest U.S. conglomerate, who in January was named a top adviser on job creation to U.S. President Barack Obama, said yesterday that GE's focus on the environmentally friendly aspects of its wind turbines and high-efficiency appliances might have led his critics to believe he was more interested in saving the planet than growing the company.

"If I had one thing to do … Read more

General Electric's latest green-technology initiative will be found in unlikely place: the inside of a refrigerator.

The industrial giant tomorrow will announce that it has changed its refrigerator manufacturing to use a gas that dramatically reduces the amount of greenhouse gases emitted. GE will host an event at a Decatur, Ala., plant where the atmosphere-friendly gas has first been introduced into GE's refrigerators.

The gas, called cyclopentane, is used as a blowing agent for the foam insulation poured into refrigeration products during manufacture. GE said it will spend about $16 million to convert its Decatur facility, part of … Read more

Google today said that it will invest about $100 million in the very large Shepherd's Flat wind project in Oregon, its second direct investment in renewable energy in two weeks.

Shepherds Flat is projected to be the largest wind farm in the world, able to generate 845 megawatts and supply enough energy for 235,000 average U.S. homes when it is online next year. GE Energy Financial Services and Caithness Energy are existing owners of the project near Arlington, Ore., which will take up about 30 square miles.

Last week, Google said it invested $186 million in the Ivanpah solar power plant … Read more

Ultracapacitor maker Ioxus today said it has raised $21 million from a handful of large industrial companies, a vote of confidence in this relatively young energy-storage technology.

The lead investor was Energy Technology Ventures, a joint venture of General Electric, utility NRG Energy, and fuel company ConocoPhillips. Another investment group involved was Aster Capital, which represents transportation and power companies Alstom, Schneider Electric, and Rhodia.

The series B round will be used for product development, for sales, and to ramp up the company's manufacturing facility in Oneonta, N.Y., Ioxus CEO Mark McGough said today. These "strategic partner&… Read more