„Vision: A carbon-free Munich“
from 18.05.09 to 23.10.09
Vision: A carbon-free Munich
Climate protection must begin in the cities. The big cities consume 75 percent of the energy generated and emit 80 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases. They are thus the main culprit in terms of climate change, but they are also the place where climate protection measures will have most effect. The metropolises of the world can develop climate-friendly solutions which other regions can copy.
In the study commissioned by Siemens “Sustainable Urban Infrastructure: Munich – Paths toward a Carbon-Free Future” the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy explored how the amount of CO2 emitted could be drastically reduced by 2058 – without impairing the quality of life for its residents. Using a specific model urban district, the analysis demonstrates how the transformation to a virtually carbon-free metropolis can be accomplished in terms of infrastructure and technology. Key levers for cutting CO2 emissions are high-efficiency energy applications, infrastructure modifications in the areas of heating, electricity and transportation and a transition to renewable and low-carbon energy sources wherever possible.
With the largest environmental portfolio in the world, which accounted for around €19 billion, or a quarter of total revenue in fiscal 2008, Siemens is ideally equipped to help achieve the necessary change.
Overview of the main findings
- A major city like Munich can not only meet but also exceed the target, set by EU environmental ministers, of reducing annual global greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent to less than two tons per person by 2050 compared to 1990.
- This will not require a reduction in living standards. However, a comprehensive paradigm change in terms of building construction, heat supply, power grids, power generation and transportation will be necessary.
- The key levers for reducing emissions include optimizing the insulation of buildings, low-carbon renewable power generation and the efficient use of combined heat and power, and energy-saving electrical devices and lighting systems. In the area of transportation, the increased used of public over private transport and the switch to electrical vehicles for inner-city transportation harbor the greatest savings potentials.
- Savings in the heating area will create new challenges for utilities. Optimizing building insulation will drastically cut heating needs, so that it will become difficult to profitably operate district heating grids. New solutions for low temperature networks will have to be found.
- Many investments in efficiency measures are, in fact, cost-effective. For instance, to meet the requirements of the energy-saving passive house standard – which is stricter than the 2007 Energy Savings Ordinance now in force – Munich will have to invest an additional €13 billion by mid-century in the renovation of old buildings and the construction of new ones. This amount comes to roughly €200 per city resident per year – about one third of an annual gas bill. However, these added costs will be offset in 2058 by energy cost savings of between €1.6 billion and €2.6 billion – that is, of some €1,200 to €2,000 per resident.
- If all savings potentials in the area of electrical power are realized, the lion’s share of the city’s electricity needs can be met by renewable low-carbon sources. Although relatively high at first, initial investments in efficient energy-saving technologies generally pay for themselves through energy savings.
The study is available as a download at
www.siemens.com/sustainablecities
and can also be ordered here.
The special exhibition
The first part of the exhibition “Vision: A carbon-free Munich” shows the possible effects of climate change on world’s metropolises. The second part presents the findings of the study for the period from 2008 to 2058. According to the relatively optimistic Target Scenario, it will be possible to reduce emissions by around 90 percent to 750 kilograms per resident per year. According to the Bridge Scenario – based on more conservative assumptions about residents’ behavior – Munich will still be working towards becoming a largely carbon-free city. Nonetheless, CO2 emissions will have been reduced by 80 percent to 1.3 tons per person – and will thus still be much lower than the two-ton-per-person level advocated by the EU environmental ministers.
The third part of the exhibition shows on the basis of one model urban district how the levers that have been identified can help achieve this. It would theoretically be possible to reduce the CO2 emissions in an individual urban district to extremely low levels within a period of only 30 years. The study also shows that transforming a city into a virtually carbon-free urban environment can only be achieved if this aim is a top priority for all participants: decision-makers, bureaucracies, utilities, urban planners and, particularly, investors and residents. In the fourth part of the exhibition, various Siemens technologies are presented which help reduce CO2 emissions, ranging from power supply systems to electric cars and building management.
