Pictures of the Future    Spring 2006

In Brief

^? A sound infrastructure is essential for meeting the needs of every community, whether in a big city like Bangkok or in remote regions in Africa. And this poses major challenges, particularly for the world's booming megacities. Infrastructure is the key to securing industrial production and commerce, and for providing power, water, telecommunications and transport. Siemens is the world's leading provider of innovative solutions for all of these areas   
^{more at Trends, Facts and Forecasts and Developing Regions}

^? Siemens' power plants belong to the most modern and environmentally friendly power plants in the world. In Irsching, Bavaria, for example, the company is building a combined cycle power plant with an overall efficiency of over 60 %—a new world record. In addition to generating energy, a Siemens-built power plant in Abu Dhabi is also providing drinking water. Here, a combined cycle power plant and seawater desalination facility has an output of 1,500 MW and supplies 450,000 m³ of water a day. And in Unterhaching, near Munich, Siemens is building a geothermal plant that can supply thousands of homes with environmentally friendly electricity and heating   
^{more at Power Plants and Desalination}

^? Singapore is one of the world's most dynamic and prosperous cities, but it has always relied heavily on the mainland for its water supply. Now, a water treatment plant from Siemens is recycling Singapore's waste water into water pure enough to drink. The plant supplies 40,000 m³ of drinking water daily, and there are plans to expand the facility. Singapore expects the plant to meet 20 % of the city's water needs by 2012   ^more

^? Siemens played a key role in providing the public transportation system used by Bangkok's 6.5 million inhabitants. The project included a new subway and Skytrain that are helping to relieve traffic congestion and improve air quality. And in Spain, Europe's fastest train, the Siemens Velaro, has cut the time needed for the 650-km Madrid-Barcelona route in half to just two and one-half hours   ^{more at Bangkokand High-Speed Rail}

^? The World Cup will be a high-tech infrastructure showcase. From tickets with RFID chips to the latest building and security technologies and innovative traffic management systems, Siemens technology is being used at all 12 World Cup stadiums to enable fans from around the world to conveniently and safely follow the games and travel to them   ^more