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Immelt

GE's chief wishes he'd soft-pedaled green talk

Reuters

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

GE's Immelt defends nuclear industry safety

Reuters

General Electric Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt defended the nuclear industry's safety record today during a trip to Tokyo to show support to the operator of a stricken nuclear plant using reactors designed by the U.S. conglomerate.

Immelt met with executives at Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), operator of the Fukushima power plant that was crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and is leaking radiation in the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.

GE and its nuclear business partner Hitachi have sent over 1,000 workers to help with the so far unsuccessful efforts to get the … Read more

GE's Immelt: U.S. lagging in clean energy

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.--The demand for energy products is gravitating toward the developing world and the bulk of new clean-energy business risks going along with it, said General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt.

Immelt gave a talk at the ARPA-E Summit here on Tuesday where he focused on the importance of energy in the context of global economic competitiveness. The conference, meant to showcase disruptive energy technologies, has attracted energy technology entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers.

The U.S. is historically been strong in developing new technologies, but uncertain policies and relatively low levels of spending on research and development make the … Read more

GE shows off pocket-size ultrasound scanner

SAN FRANCISCO--In a wide-ranging interview at the Web 2.0 Summit, Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric, announced a low-cost and very portable ultrasound scanner called the Vscan.

"It's about the same size as a BlackBerry," Immelt said, holding up a white device that appeared to fold in the middle like a flip-phone. The top of the device showed an ultrasound image (of a patient's liver, we were told), while the bottom showed control keys.

"This is Moore's law," he said, saying that the device had the same power as a console ultrasound … Read more

Is the U.S. missing the boat on green tech?

The United States risks missing the business opportunity posed by moving to low-carbon energy, two prominent business leaders argued in an editorial aimed at policy makers.

General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt and venture capitalist John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, published an editorial in The Washington Post Monday to warn that the U.S. is lagging China is developing clean-energy technologies.

"We are clearly not in the lead today. That position is held by China, which understands the importance of controlling its energy future. China's commitment to developing clean energy technologies and markets is breathtaking," … Read more