Siemens 2011 Annual Report Download - page 27

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Already a densely populated conurbation, London
continues to grow – with important consequences for
infrastructure, energy supply and transport. Siemens
is collaborating closely with London’s government to
master the challenges facing the city in its drive to
achieve a sustainable future.
The Crystal, our sustainability center, is located in the
heart of the new Green Enterprise District, an area in
the Docklands of East London that is now undergoing
large-scale regeneration. Starting in , the Crystal
will offer a vision of the urban future and demon-
strate how innovative technologies can reduce a city ’s
environmental footprint, cut costs and improve the
quality of urban life. With its innovative architecture
and design, the center will also provide insights into
the possibilities created by ecofriendly building tech-
nologies, while focusing discussion on the options
and opportunities available for the city environment
and increasing public support for urban projects.
Londoners don’t have to wait for the center’s opening
to experience our green technologies. All they have to
do is climb aboard one of the city ’s many hybrid bus-
es. These innovative vehicles are not only much quiet-
er than their conventional counterparts; they also use
around 40% less fuel and produce up to 40% fewer
emissions. To improve the city ’s air quality, the Low
Emission Zone encompassing all of Greater London
has been created. The zone, which can be entered on-
ly by vehicles meeting a specific emissions standard,
employs the same traffic control systems used to
speed traffic flows in the city ’s central Congestion
Zone. Since the technology ’s introduction, the num-
ber of individual car trips into downtown London each
day has declined by 60,000.
Efforts – like London’s – to reduce traffic congestion
are most effective when the components of the local
public transportation system have been integrated
into one another. Here, too, our technology is making
a major contribution to urban mobility. The Heathrow
Express and the Heathrow Connect – rail links that
have dramatically reduced travel times between Lon-
don’s leading airport and the city center – use traffic
guidance systems and advanced trains from Siemens.
We’re also increasing the capital’s accessibility with
our Desiro regional trains. All in all, innovative trans-
portation measures like these have reduced street
traffic in central London by 20% and cut annual CO2
emissions by 150,000 tons.
As a leading supplier to London’s hospitals, we also
strive to reduce the environmental impact of our med-
ical
technologies. Over their lifecycles, our offerings
in the healthcare field cut hospital electricity and air-
conditioning costs by tens of thousands of euros.
The London Array offshore wind farm marks yet an-
other advance in the city ’s efforts to reduce its carbon
footprint. Located in the Outer Thames Estuary, the
wind farm will be the first facility of its kind in the
one-gigawatt class. Boasting 175 Siemens wind tur-
bines, the London Array will generate enough renew-
able energy to power 750,000 households and, thus,
meet the electricity needs of roughly a quarter of the
city ’s population.
Siemens and London –
A close partnership