General Electric/GE is recognized by Forbes 2009 as the worlds largest company. Originally started in 1890 by the late Thomas Edison, GE merged with Thomson Houston Company in 1892 to bring together several of its other businesses. The company took off in 1911 with its lightning business and was registered as the first industrial park in the world.

Since the days of the lighting sector, GE has ventured out and diversified. Today, General Electric has a Conglomerate of businesses; Aviation, Aircraft, Jet Engines, Electricity, Entertainment, Finance, Gas Turbine, Generation Industrial Automation, Lighting, Medical Imaging Equipment, Medical Technology, Medical Software, Motors, Railway Locomotives and Wind Turbine.

Impact On Environment

Given the multi-national presence of a corporation the size of GE, one would naturally assume that it would have had, over the years, in one or another of its divisions, a negative impact on the environment. Like many other large businesses, GE has in the past been responsible for extensive environmental damage, but it is unique in that it has resolved to become a champion of the environment rather than its enemy. Since 2004, through a variety of pro-conservation initiatives GE has dedicated itself to preserving and protecting the environment. These initiatives are working: GE has not only met but exceeded its own goal for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 1.01 million metric tons; and it has decreased its overall energy use by 4.42 million MMBtus.