Attention, budding businesspeople with ideas about how to change the way we manage energy at home: GE's Ecomagination initiative will soon be open to you.

Want proof that home energy management is about to become big business? Look no further than GE.

Hot on the heels of the latest group of Ecomagination challenge winners, GE has announced that it has joined an $8 million funding round for CoolPlanet Biofuels, a startup that turns plant waste and woodchips into biofuel.

Among the winners of GE's Consumer Innovation Award is Clarian Power, a startup that plans to offer plug-n-play solar technology to the residential market for under $1,000.

The electric giant announced a number of winners in its $200 million Ecomagination challenge today -- and invested another $55 million in power grid companies.

The latest corporate crowdsourcing experiment comes via Toyota, which this week launched its "Ideas for Good" initiative--an opportunity for consumers to repurpose the company's automotive technology to benefit society

Water and energy use are two of the most pressing environmental issues; why not tackle them at the same time?

GE thinks it can find excess cash your organization didn't realize it had through the ecomagination Treasure Hunt program, which aims to uncover energy savings at companies, universities, and even entire cities.