Pictures of the Future      Spring 2008

In Brief

? California is a leader in developing climate-friendly technologies, and clean tech is the fastest-growing sector for venture capital investments.The combination of an environmentally far-sighted government, top universities, and an aggressive venture capital community, including companies such as Siemens that are financing start-ups, has triggered a boom in innovation ^more

? China’s dramatic economic growth is primarily fuelled by coal. In 2006 alone, 176 coal-fired power plants went on line—an average of one every two days. Thanks to new technologies from Siemens, however, power generation using coal is becoming increasingly efficient and sustainable—as shown by the Yuhuan plant, which achieves a world-record efficiency of 45 %   ^more

? Siemens is developing 700-°C technology in order to further boost the efficiency of coal-fired power plants and thus cut CO₂ emissions. This higher steam temperature is expected to make it possible to achieve 50 % efficiency ^more

? Experts worldwide are working on concepts for generating power from coal without releasing CO₂ into the atmosphere. Siemens is investing in the IGCC process, which removes CO₂ before combustion, and flue-gas purification methods that separate CO₂ afterwards. Scientists based in Potsdam are studying how carbon dioxide can be sequestered underground and what happens to it there    ^{more at CO}2 ^{Separation and CO}2 ^Storage

? Buildings are responsible for around 40 % of global energy consumption. Sophisticated energy-saving models and Siemens’ high-efficiency building management systems can contribute to substantial savings in CO₂ emissions and energy   ^more

? Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is becoming a popular energy carrier. Siemens is establishing itself in this booming market with gigantic compressors and the world’s largest electric motors, which will be used in the first all-electric LNG plant   ^more