GE’s ecomagination* Focus Supports Environment by Helping Farmers Achieve Top Results with up to 70 Percent Less Water

GARCHING, GERMANY — June 29, 2005 — The application of agricultural pesticides can have a significant impact on the environment, including heavy water demands for high spray volumes and chemical runoff into soil and groundwater. As part of its ecomagination* initiative, GE is taking the lead on this challenge with innovative Silwet* Silicone Super Spreader additives that can help save millions of liters of water annually.

“As a global leader in innovative materials science, GE Advanced Materials is investing to help our customers solve some of their toughest environmental challenges,” said Rebecca Frey, global marketing manager Agriculture, GE Advanced Materials, Silicones. “Our Super Spreaders are a great example of technology that targets several issues simultaneously – these additives can significantly lower consumption of water while helping to protect wildlife and people from exposure to pesticide runoff. With GE Super Spreaders, farmers can improve yields while reducing the negative effects of agriculture on the environment.”

GE’s Silwet Silicone Super Spreaders are organosilicone adjuvants that enable agricultural chemical sprays to perform better, spread more easily, be absorbed more quickly, and resist washing off plants. Specifically, they allow water-containing pesticides, growth regulators, and other chemicals to penetrate the surface of plants more readily. This spreading capability means that a lower spray volume can achieve optimal results. The GE materials may reduce water volume in pesticide sprays by up to 70 percent.

Further, Silwet Super Spreader adjuvants provide “rainfastness.” By allowing the active ingredients in pesticides to enter the plant quickly, these materials help prevent rain from washing them off as readily – resulting in less waste and less runoff of pesticides into soil and groundwater, which leads to lower residues in the environment.

By improving the reliability of the application process, Silwet Super Spreaders have the potential to reduce pesticide use.

Reader enquiries

GE Bayer Silicones GmbH & Co. KG
Building V7
51368 LEVERKUSEN
Germany

Robert Scheib
robert.scheib@ge.com

Tel: +49 214 306 71 37
Fax: +49 214 306 71 26
Germany
+49 214 306 71 37
robert.scheib@​ge.com
www.ge.com

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Notes for editors

About GE ecomagination

By combining the strengths of GE’s environmental technologies and the collective imagination of its 300,000 worldwide employees, the company aims to create solutions that are as economically advantageous as they are ecologically sound. In support of GE’s ecomagination initiative, the company will double its research budget for environmental technologies that have a positive impact on the environment and produce more products that help protect the land, air, and water.

About GE Advanced Materials

GE Advanced Materials (www.geadvancedmaterials.com) is a world leader in providing high-technology material solutions. Headquartered in Pittsfield, Mass., its businesses include Plastics, Silicones, Quartz, Automotive, Specialty Film & Sheet, Polymershapes, and Sealants and Adhesives.

GE (NYSE: GE) is Imagination at Work – a diversified technology, media and financial services company focused on solving some of the world's toughest problems. With products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and security technology to medical imaging, business and consumer financing, media content and advanced materials,

GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.ge.com.

* ecomagination and Silwet are trademarks of General Electric Company.