Siemens 2009 Annual Report Download - page 58

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reduce their harmful greenhouse gas emissions by at least 300 million tons a year – the amount
now produced by New York, Tokyo, London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Berlin and Rome. Experts from
our Corporate Technology Department and the Siemens Sectors have calculated potential
greenhouse gas reductions for all our offerings on the basis of product- and solution-specific
comparisons.
This approach enables us to directly compare emission levels before and after a power plant has
been modernized or a building’s energy consumption has been optimized with the help of energy-
saving performance contracting. Where appropriate, we’ve also compared technologies directly
with one another. For instance, we’ve compared the emissions produced by low-loss high-voltage
direct-current (HVDC) power transmission systems with those generated by conventional alternat-
ing-current transmission systems. A third approach is to compare new solutions with products and
systems that are already installed. We’ve done this in the case of advanced combined-cycle power
plants, for example, using average global emission factors as a benchmark.
Here’s how this calculation is made. Our advanced combined-cycle power plants achieve an
efficiency rating of about 58 percent and emit 345 grams of CO2 per kilowatt hour (g CO2/kWh). This
is 233 grams of CO2 per kilowatt hour less than the average global emission factor of 578 g CO2/ kWh
(all energy sources) for energy production. The total emission reduction equals this difference
multiplied by the number of kilowatt hours of electricity that our newly installed power plants
generate in a fiscal year.
Independent review confirms effectiveness
The principles, criteria and processes on which our Environmental Portfolio and our environmental
targets are based were developed and applied in accordance with the highest technical and profes-
sional standards. But this wasn’t enough for us. We also wanted external verification. To obtain it,
we commissioned the independent auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to conduct the first
outside review of our Portfolio’s data and processes for fiscal 2007. We asked PwC to conduct a
second limited assurance review for fiscal 2008. The auditors based their review on the five criteria
established by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative of the World Business Council for Sustainable
Development and the World Resource Institute: relevance, completeness, consistency, transpar-
ency and accuracy. As in fiscal 2007, the results of this second audit validated our data and pro-
cesses without reservation for fiscal 2008 as well. PwC will also review the revenue and CO2 reduc-
tions generated by our Environmental Portfolio for fiscal 2009. Further information on the methods,
assumptions and processes underlying the Portfolio and on the results of the PwC review is avail-
able in the brochure Energy efficiency and environmental care, which can be downloaded from our
company website.
Our intelligent IT infrastruc-
ture solutions are improving
traffic management in large
cities – benefiting motorists,
who spend less time in
traffic jams, and the envi-
ronment, which is less
burdened by greenhouse
gas emissions.
www.siemens.com/sustainability-report
www.siemens.com/environmentalportfolio
 Introduction  Our world 36 Our company
52 Our understanding of sustainability 54 Driving sustainable business 58 Our contribution to
sustainable urban development