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29.11.2005 The United Nations is hosting an international conference on climate change in Montreal from 28 November to 9 December 2005, at which up to 10,000 delegates are expected. Government delegations from all over the world will attend to discuss the future of climate protection. Technical solutions are essential to achieving the objectives of the policy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, thus contributing to climate protection. Siemens offers a wide range of “green” products and solutions. These include processes for energy-efficient electricity generation and, above all, intelligent energy-saving solutions that enable industrial enterprises and local authorities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, thereby promoting climate protection, while at the same time taking considerable strain off corporate budgets and the public exchequer.
Maximum efficiency fossil-fuelled power stations make a key contribution to climate protection. The higher the level of efficiency, the more intensive and economical the use of primary energy sources such as coal, gas or oil to produce electricity and the fewer the damaging substances emitted into the atmosphere when the output of the power station remains constant. The gas and steam turbine power station built by Siemens in Mainz-Wiesbaden, Germany holds the world record in efficient electricity generation with the current level at 58.4 percent. The recently announced gas turbine power station, which Siemens is to build together with E.ON in Irsching, Bavaria, is expected to achieve efficiency of over 60 percent. Increasing efficiency by two percentage points represents a drop in carbon dioxide emissions of 40,000 tons per year.
However, high degrees of efficiency do not only play an important role in newly built power stations. The modernization of existing power stations is usually associated with a dramatic increase in efficiency.
From wind to biomass: CO2-neutral electricity generation
CO2-neutral methods of power generation involve the use of wind, radiation from the sun, the heat of the earth and organic energy sources (biomass). Only last October the largest wind park in Norway went into operation in Smola, which is supplied by Siemens Wind Power A/S in Denmark. A total of 68 wind turbines produce 150 megawatts of power. Siemens and Florida Power and Light Energy, LLC (FPL Energy) in Orlando, Florida, have agreed to build one of the world’s largest wind power projects, involving a wind park with a total output of 600 megawatts at various locations in the USA.
Although Siemens has withdrawn from the production of solar power cells, the company uses this technology to set up power supply networks, for example in the Third World. Also, in Unterhaching near Munich, Bavaria, Siemens is acting as general contractor for a 3.36 megawatt geothermal power station, showing that the use of the earth’s heat to generate energy has advanced from the research phase to successful commercial use.
The generation of electricity using biomass, i.e. on the basis of organic material such as timber from forests, is gaining in importance. When organic material is burned, only the amount of CO2 the plants absorbed while growing is released. Europe’s largest biomass power station, which is planned for Vienna, Austria will burn up to 200,000 tons of timber each year with an electrical output of 24.5 megawatts. In a conventional power station this corresponds to the use of about 44,000 tons of heating oil with an annual CO2 emission rate of around 144,000 tons.
Powerful spin-off effects: electricity from process steam and waste heat
Another way to reduce consumption of fossil fuels and to cut the pollutants emitted into the atmosphere is to make further use of the energy sources required for production purposes. Industrial enterprises, such as the chemicals or paper industries, that use steam as part of their production process, can use this steam to generate electrical current. The steam, which is often recirculated, can be used to drive a turbine, which in turn drives a generator to produce the electricity. Siemens provides the steam turbines needed for this.
Waste heat, which was previously emitted from production facilities into the atmosphere or into rivers without economic benefit, can be used to generate electricity. This is significant for particularly energy-intensive sectors such as the glass, aluminum, and steel industries. Siemens can deliver the required systems within just 18 months, from planning to handover.
Too often underestimated: the role of saving energy
Power that is not used does not need to be generated. This indirectly saves the reserves of fossil fuels and slightly reduces the amount of damaging material emitted into the atmosphere.
Energy loss starts with the transport of electricity from the power station to the consumer. For technical reasons, a certain portion of the energy is usually lost. The process of transferring high-voltage direct current over distances in excess of 1,000 kilometers helps to minimize these losses.
On the consumption side, the use of energy-saving drive mechanisms in industrial production technology reduces power requirements. Siemens has reduced the power loss in electric motors by up to 45 percent by optimizing the use of materials, among other things. The range of energy-saving motors available from Siemens covers more than 90 percent of all conceivable areas of use. The investment costs for energy-saving drive mechanisms can pay off after only one year – exactly when the cost is amortized depends on how intensely the system is used, among other things. If you want a precise figure, you can work it out online: Siemens’ “SinaSave” software is a free service that calculates how much energy modernization will save and how long it will take for the investment to pay off.
Another approach to saving energy is to use speed-controlled frequency converters. This enables power savings of between 30 and 50 percent. Typical applications are pumps or fans. At present only five percent of the electric motors used in industry are fitted with an electronic speed control of this kind. This would be technically possible and practical in a further 30 percent of cases. Finally, the braking energy used to stop electric motors in production processes can be converted back into electricity and fed back into the network.
By providing system evaluations and proposals for optimization, Siemens supports enterprises that are planning to build a new drive system or to modernize an existing system. Offers include detailed modernization concepts for drives and the associated automation and process control technology. These concepts can be gradually implemented, enabling system operators to spread investment costs over a longer period.
“Greener” public services: savings packages for local authorities
Performance contracting offers local authorities the chance to do their bit for the environment while at the same time saving themselves money as operators of public systems and facilities. It enables schools, administration buildings or other institutions to save energy, reduce pollutants and cut costs. A modernization concept is drawn up together with the client. The resulting energy savings lead to a reduction in costs, so that the money saved can be used to finance modernization. The reduced costs can then be ploughed back into the client’s budget. In the European Union alone, more than 100 contracting projects between 1996 and 2004 have saved EUR 146 million and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 79,000 tons.
Local government traffic departments can also save power and money, for example by fitting traffic lights with Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). LEDs use much less power and have a longer service life than conventional bulbs. This reduces energy and maintenance costs. Siemens has been commissioned by the city of Freiburg, Germany to fit 53 traffic lights with LED technology, reducing power consumption by 350,000 kilowatt-hours. The annual payments over the next 15 years will total EUR 140,000 including interest. At the same time, annual savings on power consumption and maintenance will amount to around EUR 155,000 per year.
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