APC 2012 Annual Report Download - page 16

2012 REGISTRATION DOCUMENT SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC14
OVERVIEW OF THEGROUP’S STRATEGY, MARKETS AND BUSINESSES
1OUR STRATEGY AND MARKET OPPORTUNITIES
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1. Our strategy and market
opportunities
Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management with operations in over 100countries, leverages its
portfolio to make energy safe, reliable, effi cient, productive and green.
While global energy demand is set to rise to support growing industrialization and urbanization and energy prices are
escalating, carbon emissions must be cut drastically to protect the planet from irreversible climate change. Energy
effi ciency has been identifi ed as an essential part of the solution to the energy challenge and is a key pillar of Schneider
Electric’s strategy.
1.1 Our mission
Schneider Electric manages energy in the space between
producers and consumers. Its mission is to leverage its portfolio to
make energy:
•safe: protecting people and assets;
•reliable: guaranteeing ultra-secure, ultra-pure and uninterrupted
power especially for critical applications;
•efficient: delivering energy effi cient solutions adapted to the
specifi c needs of each market;
•productive: expanding the use of automation and connectivity,
providing services throughout an installation’s life cycle;
and
•green: offering solutions that are environmentally friendly.
1.2 We see favourable trends in our environment creating opportunities
Energy efficiency
Energy Effi ciency, meaning doing more with less, is an essential part
of the solution to the global energy challenge.
In its latest World Energy Outlook, the International Energy Agency
(IEA) estimates that the various energy effi ciency policies that
are being introduced in many countries across the world could
account for about 70% of the reduction in projected global energy
demand in2035, and 68% of the cumulative global savings in CO2
emissions. This compares with a 46% increase in global energy
demand by2035 if nothing changes.
Boosting Energy Effi ciency on the 3 major energy-consuming
sectors (Industry, Buildings and Homes) could help a country
reduce its overall energy use by 15% to 25% –in effect providing
a very attractive business case in both mature and new economies.
Energy Effi ciency also offers an excellent payback: according to
the IEA, every Euro invested, in particular in Buildings, would yield
EUR1.6 in energy savings.
Alongside traditional “passive” energy effi ciency technologies such
as building insulation and energy-effi cient equipments, “active”
energy effi ciency has a big role to play. Active energy effi ciency
means optimizing a commercial & industrial building’s performance
and usage through the use of building automation. One simple
example is to automatically adjust lighting and heating to room
occupancy – adapting to external conditions while ensuring users’
comfort.
This helps to continuously optimize energy performance throughout
the building’s lifecycle - providing overall effi ciency . Active energy
effi ciency can save up to 30% of a building’s energy needs,
signifi cantly improving a company’s carbon footprint while
deliveringsavings on its charge s , with limited upfront investment.
Building automation is also a key enabler of the Smart Grid,
facilitating Demand side management by connecting buildings
smartly to the grid.
Towards a smarter electricity grid
Today’s electricity grid is very similar to what it was one century
ago, carrying electricity from centralized generation plants to users
in homes, buildings, and facilities. But the grid is now undergoing
a revolution. Energy demand keeps increasing; carbon emissions
need to come down, and electricity is a big carbon emitter; there
are more and more renewable energy sources, which are by nature
intermittent and by design distributed; and infrastructures are
ageing, overloaded, or in need of heavy maintenance. The network
must therefore become smarter to adapt to this changing and more
complex environment.