ge

GE subsidiary GE Energy Financial Services and North Bridge Venture Partners will invest $8 million in a company developing a biofuel production process coupled with the production of biochar.

Cool Planet Biofuels converts cellulosic byproducts like plant waste and woodchips into biofuel that can be used in vehicles.

The company's byproduct from the process is biochar, or manmade coal as some call it, which just like conventional charcoal can be burned for fuel. It's something the company says qualifies its biofuel process as being carbon neutral.

The biochar can also be buried in the ground serving as both … Read more

Having scoured the globe via the Internet for promising power grid technologies, General Electric today said it and its partners will invest $55 million to into 12 energy-focuses start-ups.

At a press conference in New York, CEO Jeffrey Immelt said that GE will also give out five $100,000 grants to scientists with less mature technology ideas. In another initiative, it will make $10 million available starting next year in a new University Challenge to spur more expertise and research in grid-related technologies, such as power electronics and materials science.

In July, GE announced that it and four venture-capital companies-- … Read more

NISKAYUNA, N.Y.--The incandescent bulb is under fire for being an energy hog, but don't expect one single lighting technology to take its place.

At a General Electric-hosted event on lighting here yesterday, lighting designers and technology developers said people should look forward to greater diversity in lighting products, rather than a dominant light source that meets all needs.

That means people need to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of different technologies, both new and old, and use them for specific applications, they said.

"There's no source that's going to beat everything. LEDs are … Read more

Apple giveth (the Ginsu Book) and then it taketh: We discuss a gaping security hole in FaceTime and Apple's dis to Java developers. Also, GE launches hybrid lightbulb, Clearwire demos 100 gigabit LTE, and the mysterious space hot tub of Upsilon Andromedae b.

NISKAYUNA, New York--General Electric said today it will roll out an LED bulb to replace 60-watt incandescent bulbs next year, part of an expanded line of efficient lighting.

GE also showed off a prototype downlight LED bulb which gives off 1,500 lumens, the equivalent amount of light as a 100-watt halogen, but it uses one third the energy. The prototype uses an active cooling system originally used by GE's jet engine business.

The announcements were made at a lighting symposium here at GE's Global Research Center, held to showcase new lighting technologies GE expects to move into … Read more

General Electric today unveiled a halogen compact fluorescent light bulb that promises the efficiency of a CFL without the annoying warm-up period.

Unlike typical compact fluorescents (CFLs), the new GE Reveal and GE Energy Smart Soft White hybrid light bulbs will not take time to heat up in order to reach full luminescence.

The bulb is actually two bulbs in one. A halogen light nestled within the bulb turns on almost instantly (half a second), then shuts off once the CFL has reached its full brightness, according to GE.

GE says its new hybrid bulb only contains 1 milligram of … Read more

General Electric aims to bulk up its presence in solar power with the introduction today of thin-film solar panels and accompanying equipment.

The company said that its thin-film solar panels, made in conjunction with PrimeStar Solar, will be commercially available next year. The panels, constructed with cadmium telluride cells, will be made at PrimeStar's 30-megawatt manufacturing line in Colorado next year, and the companies plan to scale up production.

GE also detailed equipment and a partnership aimed at making its panels suitable for utility-scale solar projects. The announcement is timed with the Solar Power International conference going on this … Read more

You got heat? General Electric wants to make power out of it.

GE on Friday said it has acquired Calnetix Power Solutions, a privately held company which makes systems for converting heat from industrial equipment into electricity. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

The company will be integrated with GE's current Austria-based Jenbacher gas engine business, which makes engines that run on different gases, including natural gas and biogas.

Calnetix's system is designed specifically for small-scale power generation at places, such as factories which give off a lot of unused heat. It can also be used to make electricity … Read more

GE is launching a new residential electric-car charger that promises to be faster and more user-friendly than traditional charging stations.

The new GE WattStation unveiled today is a residential version of the public charger announced in July. The home WattStation will lower the time it takes to charge from 12 to 18 hours for a standard charger to as few as 4 to 8 hours, assuming a full-cycle charge for a 24 kWh battery.

Created by industrial designer Yves Behar, the residential WattStation joins its public counterpart with controls that should be easy to use, according to the company.

"… Read more