Urbanization and sustainable development
In 2007, for the first time in history, more people lived in cities than rural areas. By 2030, over 60 percent of the world’s population will reside in urban centers. But as cities and economic systems grow, so do the challenges, and urban infrastructures are beginning to show the strain. City dwellers around the world want a high quality of life. They need clean air, clean water and a reliable power supply. They need a healthcare system. And they need mobility. Transportation networks must be able to move millions of people with minimal environmental impact and as economically as possible. In other words, a satisfactory quality of life requires smoothly functioning infrastructures. And this is where we come in: our comprehensive portfolio of products, systems and services offers solutions to the challenges facing cities in the areas of transportation, buildings, lighting, power supply, healthcare, water and security. No other company can rival our extensive portfolio of technologies for major urban centers.
As an integrated technology company, we’re helping cities increase their competitiveness, their ecofriendliness and the quality of life they provide. Our Siemens One initiative, in particular, enables us to offer products, systems and complete solutions tailored to the needs of modern metropolises.
Our products and solutions for livable cities
We develop products and solutions with which the quality of life in cities can be maintained and enhanced. Here are some examples:
Energy-saving contracting
IIntelligent building systems can save vast amounts of energy. With the help of improved heating, ventilation, air conditioning, lighting, water and power supply systems, energy costs can be reduced by an average of 20 to 30 percent. Energy-saving performance contracting projects from Siemens are identifying and tapping these potential savings through targeted building modernization and optimization – slashing structures’ operating costs, reducing the amount of CO2 they emit and boosting their value and reliability.
Energy accounts for more than 40 percent of the operating costs of a typical office building. And this is where energy-saving performance contracting proves its worth. We’re the only supplier on the market to offer comprehensive solutions that enable customers to recoup the costs of increasing the energy efficiency of commercial properties through energy savings.
We’ve implemented more than 1,000 energy-saving performance contracting projects worldwide – with guaranteed savings of over €2 billion and a reduction in CO2 emissions of more than 1.4 million tons. We’ve captured a leading position in the market for energy-saving buildings in both the U.S. and Europe. Business potential in this area is expected to total some €20 billion over the next ten years.
Humanity’s most vital resource
The need for adequate, high-quality, economical and ecofriendly supplies of drinking and process water is posing increasingly complex challenges for both communities and industrial enterprises. Offering a dependable, wide-ranging and sustainable supply of everything from individual products to complete, integrated systems, we boast the world’s most extensive portfolio of cost-effective and reliable water technologies, including conventional filtration systems, membrane filtration systems, membrane bioreactors, ultraviolet disinfection technologies and much more. In California’s Orange County Water District, for example, water that was previously discharged into the ocean is now being recovered and reused locally. A MEMCOR submerged membrane filtration system from Siemens removes suspended matter, bacteria and pollutants from the secondary wastewater. An impressive 284 million liters of reclaimed water are now being delivered to California households, industry and agriculture every day. What’s more, the water quality in the groundwater basin is higher than ever before. In the Kranji District of Singapore, where space is just as scarce and valuable as water, we’ve also installed a MEMCOR membrane filtration system, which couples high energy efficiency with minimal space requirements.
Ecofriendly mass transit
When it comes to a city’s attractiveness, competitiveness and quality of life, mobility is a major factor. That’s why transportation networks are one of the most important infrastructure systems that cities provide. And it’s here that modern mass transit systems have a key role to play. Our comprehensive portfolio for urban mobility encompasses everything from streetcar systems, regional trains and subways to fully automated driverless trains like the Véhicule Automatique Léger (VAL).
In June 2009, we rolled out the new Airval airport shuttle, a fully automated rail system that consumes less energy and produces less dust and noise than previous models. We also developed and manufactured Oslo’s new metro system – a paragon of ecofriendliness. The metro’s vehicles consume 30 percent less energy than their predecessors. In Vienna, our ultra-low-floor technology, which minimizes vehicle entry height, facilitates boarding for streetcar passengers. And in Denver, Colorado, our customer-oriented mass transit concepts are also proving highly successful: in fiscal 2009, the city ordered 55 additional light-rail vehicles from Siemens.
Electricity from the sun
In an age of dwindling fossil fuel supplies, renewable energy sources are becoming increasingly important. Photovoltaic systems, which convert solar power directly into electrical energy, are both a key technology for climate-compatible power generation and a major future market, with projected annual growth rates of 20 percent over the next few years. And our company is well-prepared to seize this opportunity. Active in the area of photovoltaics for more than 25 years, we’re poised to continue expanding our solar business.
As a general contractor, we’re focusing on developing and implementing large-scale photovoltaic systems for customers in the industrial and energy sectors. For example, we’ve supplied systems integration technology for Bavaria Solarpark, one of the world’s largest solar power plants. And in Italy’s Campania region, we recently installed a 1-MW solar power plant, which is supplying some 350 local households with ecofriendly electricity.
Long-distance HVDC technology
Electricity from renewable energies is seldom generated in cities. More often, it’s produced far away from the places where it’s needed most. As the following examples illustrate, our high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission systems are transporting large amounts of electricity over great distances with minimal loss – all around the world.
We’ve built a 295-kilometer HVDC undersea cable connection between Australia and Tasmania that is capable of transporting up to 626 megawatts (MW) of electricity. Since mid-2007, Long Island, New York and Sayreville, New Jersey have been linked by a 750-MW HVDC system we delivered. In India, our HVDC technology is improving the energy efficiency of the 660-MW link between Ballia and Bhiwadi while reducing annual CO2 emissions by 250,000 tons compared to conventional alternating-current systems. In China, we’re currently constructing the world’s first 800-kV HVDC system. The new system’s high voltage will ensure that losses during transport are even lower than with other types of HVDC transmission. Linking the Yunnan and Guangdong provinces, the system will transport up to 5,000 megawatts of carbon-free hydroelectric power over a distance of 1,400 kilometers – reducing CO2 emissions by some 30 megatons a year.
Sustainable IT solutions
Our company’s commitment to promoting both economic growth and environmental stewardship is reflected in our IT for Sustainability program. As a global player with comprehensive industry expertise, we’re helping customers improve energy and resource efficiency across all business processes and operations while substantially reducing CO2 emissions and costs. We provide everything from consulting services to IT and communications solutions to energy management systems and intelligent supply networks.
Our Transformational Data Centers, which also encompass energy recovery concepts, can increase capacity utilization by over 80 percent and reduce energy consumption by more than 30 percent. Our United Communication Solutions and Services enable simple and intuitive communication across all media and forms of communication, cutting energy consumption and minimizing the need for business travel. And our electronic power auction platform coordinates cross-border electricity capacities, enabling grid operators to increase their efficiency by improving network utilization.