If clean energy and sustainability efforts are so expensive and such boondoggles, why are corporations embracing them? Could it be that businesses have found otherwise? The answer could come this week at this conference in Washington D.C., or, perhaps, the bright minds at GE and other corporations know.

From General Electric's 2011 annual report:

" Clean energy goes in and out of focus for governments and consumers. But, at GE, we are steadfast in our investing. In 2011, we had $21 billion of clean energy revenue, growing twice as fast as the Company average. Ecomagination drives growth because we are solving problems for our customers... We demonstrate every day that, through innovation, we can meet societal needs and do it profitably."

GE has discovered it can make money by providing clean energy solutions to others. Other businesses, such as AT&T have found they can save millions of dollars through energy-efficiency measures (check out AT&T's 2010 annual report).

ALCOA places so much value on sustainability that it ties employee compensation packages to environmental goals. " if you want to get well-compensated at Alcoa, you need to be pulling the sustainability lever hard," the company's sustainability chief, Kevin Anton, told reporter Tilde Herrera in this GreenBiz.com article.

Maybe Bill Gates was right when he said the United States should triple clean energy investment. Here is more. Making money, saving money and preserving the environment. What's not to like?

You Tube Video: By GEreports