Pictures of the Future

Russia in 2020. Vasily is an engineer who manages a new type of oil sand production facility in Siberia at a location that is virtually isolated from the rest of the world. The facility is, however, very efficient and environmentally friendly. A visiting journalist is touring the installation to learn about its operations.

The world’s population is growing, and so is its demand for raw materials. That’s made natural resources costly. Siemens is developing efficient, environmentally-friendly technologies to keep raw materials available at reasonable prices.

Located high in the Andes, the Los Pelambres open-pit copper mine in Chile is one of the world’s most profitable mining operations. Siemens automation and drive solutions help to make this facility one of the country’s showpieces for energy efficiency and resource protection.

At open pit mines all over the world, mechanical monsters are hard at work. They dig for bituminous sand, for example, or transport tons of copper ore. By equipping the giant excavators and trucks with state-of-the-art, ultra-efficient electrical drive systems, Siemens helps its customers to save energy, time, and money.

Copper, indium, germanium—our world would not function without these raw materials and others like them. Yet their prices are increasing dramatically and reserves appear to be declining. A team at Siemens is analyzing what shortages would mean for the company, and suggesting some alternatives.

Summer 2020. Efficiency planner Fun Jie Fan is showing his friend and mentor Tan Xiao his latest successfully completed project—the modernization and efficiency optimization of a neighborhood in which Tan Xiao lived for many years before moving to Beijing.

Buildings account for about 40 % of energy consumption worldwide, and approximately 21 % of all greenhouse gas emissions. However, the implementation of a number of simple measures can make it relatively easy to save at least a quarter of energy in most buildings.

State-of-the-art technology is making it possible to reduce energy consumption in buildings by up to 30 %. Four buildings—in New York, Malmö, Madrid, and Sydney—demonstrate what can be achieved for people and the environment when sensors, special materials, energy supply systems, and information technology interact in an optimal manner.

Dr. Fernandez has early-stage Alzheimer’s disease and prostate cancer. Cause for alarm? Not really. By 2020 extremely early detection technologies and a combination of lab tests and smart imaging may make it possible to treat both conditions rapidly, painlessly and effectively without surgery.

From genes and proteins to cells, tissues and our entire organism, scientists are in the process of piecing together a systems view of how we work. As they do so, they are linking the results of laboratory tests to diagnostic images, injecting the resulting knowledge into advanced decision-support systems, and devising strategies for early detection and targeted treatments.

Medical imaging is helping to detect diseases earlier than ever before. On tap are infrared-based systems that pinpoint abnormal tissues and cells, blood tests that detect traces of cancer proteins, research that is zeroing in on imaging the first signs of Alzheimer’s, and strategies for accelerating the process of discovering new drugs.

No Eavesdropping / Good-bye Gearbox / Living Sensors / Ships with Plugs / Luminescent Plastics / New View of the Body / Ceramic Bakery

Rhön-Klinikum AG is in the process of networking its 46 clinics based on the use of Web-based patient files. The objective is to generate a dramatic improvement in the quality of care.

Siemens’ leadership in products and solutions designed to protect the environ­ment and the climate is worth a bundle. In 2007 the company posted sales of approximately €17 billion in this area and helped its customers reduce their CO2 emissions by 114 million t.

As the global population continues to grow and the average age rises, the need to control healthcare spending is becoming urgent. Jim Reid-Anderson, CEO of Siemens’ Healthcare Sector, on the answers to this growing challenge