Klaus Kleinfeld sees great opportunities for Germany in climate protection

In the current debate on climate protection policy, the CEO and President of Siemens AG, Dr. Klaus Kleinfeld, sees great opportunities for Germany. “Climate protection and maintaining our prosperity are not contradictions. It’s not about doing without; it’s about technical innovations that help us meet the challenge of climate change. Innovations by engineers are the lifeblood of German industry and of Siemens,” Kleinfeld declared on Sunday at a panel discussion held in Munich with Sigmar Gabriel, the German Minister for Environment.

Kleinfeld stated that it is especially important for Germany to intensify both the advancement of future technologies and the deployment of existing technologies. He also called for accelerating the replacement of old, CO2-intensive technologies with new technologies that reduce CO2 emissions. Given the same energy mix, upgrading Germany’s power plants to the most advanced technology available today would alone reduce Germany’s annual CO2 emissions by roughly four percent, or 40 million tons.

Siemens and E.ON, for example, are cooperating in a new power plant project in Irsching, Bavaria, that will set new standards in capability, economy and environmental compatibility. With a targeted efficiency of 60 percent in combined cycle operation (gas and steam), Siemens is aiming for the world record for combined cycle power plants. Efficiency will be pushed up two percentage points. This will lead to an annual CO2 reduction equivalent to the emissions of 9,500 VW Golfs driven about 20,000 kilometers.
“Forty million tons of CO2 can also be eliminated by upgrading all industrial motors in Germany,” said Kleinfeld. Using so-called Piezo injection in combustion engines would scale down fuel consumption of automobiles by 25 percent – that is 50 million tons less CO2 emitted in Germany.

Siemens can provide the technologies needed to meet the challenges of climate change and is making long-term investments in the appropriate areas. In the past, research and development were promoted and business activities were expanded. More than half of the 5.7 billion euros the company spent on R&D in fiscal 2006 can be ascribed to environmental and climate protection. For example, the company strengthened its portfolio in the area of renewable energies, such as wind energy, and invested specifically in technologies that boost the efficiency of fossil fuel based energy production.