Professor O'Kane said General Electric, in collaboration with five venture capital partners, has pledged $10 million to launch the ‘ecomagination Challenge'.
Entrants are encouraged to find, fund and bring to market breakthrough ideas for reducing our carbon footprint.
Professor O'Kane said the initiative represents a commitment to responding to today's environmental challenges while driving economic growth.
Five Innovation Award winners ($100,000) will be selected from the applicants.
In addition, GE and its Challenge partners will pursue commercial relationships with promising challenge entrants. The Challenge will receive applicants between 21 August and 30 November 2012. The winners will be announced in early 2013.
Further information about the Challenge and how to submit your application can be found here: http://challenge.ecomagination.com/anz