Pictures of the Future    Spring 2007

Going Greener

Environmentally friendly products usually aren’t readily identifiable as such. Their true value is found on the inside, and less is sometimes more. Take the new Somatom Definition computer tomograph, which contains 80 % less lead than a comparable conventional instrument. Today, environmentally friendly products are also more likely to be successful than other products, making them a sure bet for the future in more ways than one. So it’s no surprise that product planning and manufacturing trends are clearly moving in a greener direction—and that applies to everything from industrial machinery to motors and cars, and from medical equipment and household appliances to communication devices.

Siemens plans to achieve long-term profitable growth with environmentally friendly products. "To ensure that we effectively pursue this objective, we’ve created a standard for the development of environmentally friendly products that is binding for all business areas and Groups," reports Dr. Ferdinand Quella, who is responsible for product-related environmental protection at Siemens. Siemens’ SN 36350 guidelines cover all environmental factors, including energy efficiency, emission reduction to improve water and air purity, avoidance of hazardous materials and resource conservation through the use of new materials and production processes. The guidelines take a holistic view of a product’s life cycle, considering everything from planning to disposal. This is considered to be the best way to ensure maximum economic and environmental utility.

The standards in the guidelines apply to every product developed by Siemens. And if a product proves to be particularly environmentally friendly, it can receive an Eco Excellence Product award—after being subjected to a thorough test procedure currently being developed at Siemens. If the product in question is found to significantly exceed the SN 36350 guideline requirements and displays clear superiority over the best comparable products available on the market, it will be honored with the Eco Excellence distinction in recognition of its high level of sustainability.

Every three years, Siemens also presents its internal Environmental Award to employees and teams that develop particularly environmentally friendly products, solutions and processes. In 2006, a panel consisting of Siemens experts and external scientists presented such awards for the Somatom Definition computer tomograph, a diesel-electric hybrid drive for container cranes and energy-conserving subway trains. Power Generation also received an award for its commitment to environmentally sound products.

Materials are the Key. "Environmental protection begins with designing environmentally sound products and manufacturing processes," says Reinhard Kleinert, an expert at the Center for Materials & Microsystems at Siemens Corporate Technology in Berlin. "If you don’t make the important decisions at the design stage, it’s very difficult to implement corrective measures later—and even if you do, you’ll achieve an inferior result at greater effort and cost. That’s why materials research is important for creating environmentally friendly products." Kleinert and his colleagues are currently working on plastics made from plants such as rape, instead of petroleum. These materials can be disposed of by means of incineration without any problem, because the incineration process only releases the amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) the plant absorbed while it was growing. Using this type of plastic also preserves jobs in the agricultural sector. In Germany today, for example, renewable resources are cultivated on 13 % of agricultural crop land.

According to internal estimates, Siemens could utilize about 50,000 t of plastics from renewable sources. Before the organic plastics can be made ready for household appliances, engine housings, or communication systems, however, the processes for manufacturing them need to be firmly established. To this end, Siemens is participating in BioFun, a research project that includes BASF, and institutes such as the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration.

50 % Savings. One already successful example that fulfills the Eco Excellence criteria is the ECO-RTG diesel-electric hybrid drive system from Automation and Drives (A&D). These units consume 50 % less fuel in operation than conventional systems, and save up to 70 % on fuel in standby mode. As a result, emissions have been cut in half and the systems operate much more quietly. The drives are used in mobile container cranes, such as those recently tested at APM Terminals International in Algeciras, Spain. According to product manager Alois Recktenwald, the drives’ key success factor was the idea of "combining engine management with energy regeneration. The energy released during braking and deceleration is stored and utilized for subsequent acceleration."

The ECO-RTG system also illustrates just how productive cooperation between different Groups can be. Transportation Systems developed the drive technology, for which Siemens holds several patents, and Industrial Solutions and Services and A&D adapted the technology for the special requirements involved in its application. The economic benefits are tremendous as well. Operating costs for the system have been reduced by an average of 50 %. APM Terminals has already ordered more than 50 ECO-RTG cranes for container terminals in Spain, Morocco, China, and India.

80 % Less Lead. When Siemens Medical Solutions developed the Somatom Definition computer tomograph, its engineers demonstrated that customer requirements, environmental protection and economical operations go hand in hand. Here, developers also planned to exceed the requirements in the Siemens 36350 standard while bringing an Eco Excellence product to market. This approach was linked with challenging goals. For example, experts wanted to cut in half the radiation dose patients were exposed to, decrease energy consumption by one-third and reduce lead content by over 80 %. "These goals could be achieved only by employing a new technological approach for the X-ray tubes," says Johann Russinger, coordinator for Somatom Definition product-related environmental protection.

The big breakthrough was achieved by installing two X-ray tubes at 90 ° angles to each other and using Siemens’ CARE Dose 4D intelligent control system, which regulates the radiation dose in line with the area being examined. Two detectors simultaneously scan several lines, enabling a more targeted application of the X-ray beam. Capturing a high-quality image of a shoulder region containing a lot of bone tissue, for example, requires a higher dose of radiation than that required for a picture of the lung region. By adjusting the radiation accordingly, the overall dose can be reduced by up to 68 %. This cuts energy and costs while reducing radiation exposure.

Lead is usually used to protect against X-rays, and it also serves as a counterweight to exactly balance the large rotating masses of a computer tomograph. Siemens engineers have now succeeded in eliminating the need for the lead counterweight, while the lead required for X-ray protection has been reduced to a minimum—from 110 kg to just 19.

The ECO-RTG hybrid drive and the Somatom Definition tomograph represent just two examples of how systematically planned environmental protection can lead to measurable success in a "win-win-win" situation—for people, the environment and business.

Siemens manufactures products that exceed the requirements of environmental regulations and set new, higher environmental standards. In recognition of this special commitment to economic, environmental and social sustainability, the company has been listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for seven consecutive years since 2000.
                                                                                                    Harald Hassenmüller