OREANDA-NEWS. November 02, 2015. GE and BHP Billiton today announced a new partnership that will see the two companies work together to identify innovative solutions to meet growing global demand for resources including oil and gas, copper, iron ore and coal, while lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

The partnership will seek to develop solutions to reduce the emissions-intensity of mining operations, including transportation and power supply.  As part of this partnership, GE and BHP Billiton will evaluate mining operations in a concerted effort to maximise efficiency, to optimise energy flows, and to develop system-level approaches. The partners will share these best practice outcomes to improve sector-wide economic and environmental performance.

Geoff Culbert, President & CEO, GE Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, said: “The mining and resources sector is a vital part of Australia’s economic landscape. We must continue to look for innovative ways to help the sector become more efficient and productive while at the same time reducing the environmental impact. We are proud to partner with BHP Billiton in this mission, and draw on our combined capability and depth of experience to identify real, impactful ways to benefit the sector.”

As part of the partnership, GE and BHP Billiton will evaluate current mining operations to deliver system-level solutions, and will share best practice outcomes to improve economic and environmental performance across the industry.

Dean Dalla Valle, Chief Commercial Officer, BHP Billiton commented: “Our strategic approach to climate change is underpinned by engagement. It is this commitment to transparent engagement and collaboration that drives our involvement in initiatives like Ecomagination to provide business leaders with an important platform to share knowledge, skills and resources to address the issue of climate change. We look forward to continuing to engage with industry through this partnership and to contributing to the development of new solutions.”

The partnership falls under GE’s Ecomagination strategy, which aims to solve global water and energy challenges in economically sound ways. Today’s announcement was made alongside six other global partnerships, including with Masdar, Walmart, Total, MWH, Goldman Sachs, Intel and Statoil, all of which will develop solutions to reduce emissions and increase productivity across key resource industries.

GE’s Ecomagination initiative was first launched in 2005, and is celebrating 10 years operation this year. Since its launch, GE has generated more than \\$200 billion in revenue from Ecomagination-certified products and services, reduced its own greenhouse gas emissions by 31 per cent, and reduced its water use by 42 per cent.

About GE

GE (NYSE: GE) imagines things others don’t, builds things others can’t and delivers outcomes that make the world work better. GE brings together the physical and digital worlds in ways no other company can. In its labs and factories and on the ground with customers, GE is inventing the next industrial era to move, power, build and cure the world. www.ge.com