Siemens 2008 Annual Report Download - page 91

Fit42010 – Corporate Responsibility 85
In these countries, too, we’re actively involved. For example, in 2008, we completed the electrica-
tion of two rural areas to the west and south of the Eritrean capital of Asmara. Along the main trafc
arteries linking Keren with Barentu and Dekemhare with Adi Keih, we installed 150 power
transmis-
sion transformers and more than 1,000 kilometers of overhead power lines, connecting some 60,000
households to the local power grid. When the project is completed, more than 40 percent of Eritrea
will have electricity – compared to only ten percent previously.
As the winning project in this year’s Be responsible! competition demonstrates, it’s sometimes rela-
tively simple technologies that – when deployed on a large scale – make the biggest contributions to
ecofriendly power generation (see page 86).
Making clean drinking water a reality
As the world’s population grows, so does the demand for clean drinking water. Recent UN studies
predict that water consumption worldwide will have increased almost 40 percent by 2025 – a year in
which, according to UNESCO, nearly 40 percent of the world’s population will be suffering from the
effects of water scarcity. In 1990, this gure was only about six percent. Clearly, more efcient use
of water supplies is not merely a good idea; it’s an absolute necessity. We offer technologies for
purifying drinking water and treating process water, industrial wastewater and municipal waste-
water – technologies that are already key factors in worldwide efforts to make better use of water
resources.
But it’s not only large-scale industrial solutions for water and wastewater treatment that make a dif-
ference; small-scale projects can also have a big impact. Australia’s nonprot SkyJuice Foundation,
for example, is using innovative SkyHydrants to provide clean drinking water in some of the world’s
most remote regions. With these portable, chemical-free water treatment systems, we’re helping
curtail the spread of dangerous diseases like dysentery, cholera and typhoid. At an annual cost of
less than 20 euro cents per person, SkyHydrants are affordable in even the poorest regions of the
developing world.