South Korea invests in eco-tech

South Korean companies plans to invest 22.4 trillion won in eco-friendly technologies over the next three years, a presidential committee told Sify News.

The investment would mark a 48.2% increase from the 15.1 trillion won the companies spent in the past three years, the committee said.

A breakdown of the investments would include 8.9 trillion won on clean energy, 5.3 trillion won for development of hybrid cars, and 4.3 trillion won for next-generation electric devices.

General Electric has announced the creation of a $200 million clean-energy contest, reports TMCnet.

Christened the 'GE Ecomagination Challenge', the contest is meant to stimulate innovation in clean energy. Entrepreneurs, technologists and start-ups from throughout the world are invited to submit entries for the challenge fund via www.ecomagination.com.

In the same event, GE announced the opening of an electric vehicle charging station.

Energy ministers or senior officials from 21 nations are gathering in Washington for a two-day meeting aimed at finding ways to work together on clean energy amid an impasse in drafting a new climate change treaty, reveals AFP.

The US Energy Department said the meeting will feature announcements of joint initiatives among the major economies, who together account for 80% of the world's gross domestic product.

US president Barack Obama's administration has made creation of green jobs a top priority.