A leading executive of General Electric, one of the world's top five biggest companies, has met with Government to hear about Bermuda's requirements for more energy efficient products.

As someone whose own home is filled with energy saving products such as CFL bulbs, structured wiring and alike, General Electric's consumer and industrial Latin America CEO Adrian Peace has first-hand knowledge of the effectiveness of the latest technologies within his company's portfolio.

The spiral shaped florescent CFL bulbs are probably the most well-known new household energy efficient electrical product on the market. While staying at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess this week, Mr. Peace noted that the hotel has CFLs installed throughout.

There are a number of other hotels on the Island that have also replaced their normal lighting with the lower-energy, longer lasting spiral bulbs.

"Hotels get it. If you talk to hotel operators the biggest issue for them is energy efficiency and water supply," said Kentucky-based Mr. Peace.

While householders can benefit from using less electricity by installing the new style, low-energy bulbs, hotels that need to have lighting on constantly day and night are the biggest benefactors from having the low wattage alternatives.

Apart from speaking with Government officials on energy efficiency, Mr. Peace was also meeting with the HWP Group, which is the Island-wide distributor of the General Electric-produced bulbs and other energy efficient products within the US company's portfolio - a portfolio that is ever expanding with General Electric boosting its budget for research and development into "clean technologies" from $900 million last year to a projected $1.5 billion by 2010.

There has been a 60-year relationship between General Electric and Bermuda and this is set to strengthen further as the multi-national technology and services company reaches out globally with its new catalogue of energy efficient products. Within Latin America and the islands of the Caribbean where there is a push for legislation that promotes greener energy and better efficiency, General Electric is ready to assist by listening to local governments and communities about what they need and then matching up that demand with its own products.

What does Bermuda need? That is something Mr. Peace was hoping to discover from listening to Government and HWP during his first visit to the Island.

"Customers want to talk to one person who has a lot of knowledge about the entire (GE) portfolio and what is available - that means everything from lighting products to electrical components and electric appliances," said Mr. Peace.

"The biggest part of my job is studying a country and hearing what opportunities there are for energy conservation."

While CFL bulbs are the big thing for consumers today, Mr. Peace would not be surprised if they are superceded within the next 10 years by even more advanced energy efficient technology, such as widespread use of LED lighting.

It was current General Electric chairman Jeff Immelt who championed the company's move towards energy-saving and environmentally cleaner products, an initiative that is now known as GE's Ecomagination.

Mr. Peace has found himself in conversation with a number of country leaders as part of his globe-trotting to promote Ecomagination products and services, such as with the president of Costa Rico who found it useful to bounce ideas off him and his colleagues about energy saving ideas that would work for that country.

"We look to see what value proposition we can give and at the same time make money for our company. We have to tie these things together to get a win-win," he explained.

It isn't all about saving energy, however. Mr. Peace regularly rises early enough each day to fit in a morning run, either on a treadmill or on the roads, to help him think out new ideas and strategies.

"I roll out of bed and put on my sneakers, grab my iPod and go for a run. It gets the blood flowing.

"Leadership is all about strategy and if you are not careful you can get into a rut and not have a strategy. When I'm running I get ideas and the good thing is I can't immediately write them down, so they crystalise in my mind. The other thing it (exercise) gives you is energy to get through the day," he said.