Siemens Corporation has announced that it will launch a number of new and “innovative” initiatives to help fight against climate change and carbon emissions at this year's World Future Energy Summit. It says it will present “its prove, highest-efficiency industrial solutions” at the summit for a “future sustainable energy supply and smart consumption.” The summit, which will be held from January 18-21, in Abu Dhabi, has become the flagship place for companies to present new concepts and solutions for energy and green technology for the future. “Whereas the 20th century was distinguished by growing energy demand, and thus a growing consumption of fossil fuels, today at the beginning of the 21st century we face the question of how we can put our energy system on a sustainable foundation in the face of demographic change, declining fossil fuel resources and climate change,” said Wolfgang Dehen, CEO of the Energy Sector and member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG. In a press release from Siemens, Dehen plans take part in the Plenary Forum “World Future Energy Industry – Challenges and Solutions” on the first day of the WFES. “An integrated energy system is needed worldwide to help master these key challenges that will make electricity the most important source of energy,” added Dehen in the statement. “Besides its versatile usage, electricity allows the extensive integration of a variety of renewables and highly efficient bulk power transport over huge distances. Desertec provides a vision for clean energy that could make a substantial contribution to sustainable power supply in the future energy mix. Siemens, with its broad portfolio of components for solar power plants, wind turbines and highly efficient power transmission, up to end-use energy efficiency would be the perfect technology partner for this trail-blazing project.” The summit comes less than one month after world leaders met in Copenhagen, Denmark for what had been hoped to be a watershed climate change summit, but instead the leaders left without an agreement on how to fight against carbon emissions and global warming. Abu Dhabi hopes to help push technology forward that will enable the world's nations to combat this growing problem. In 2007, the portion of the global population living in urban areas exceeded 50 percent for the first time. By 2030, about 60 percent of the world's population will reside in cities. Conurbations already account for 75 percent of worldwide energy consumption and 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. BM
