Environment and Climate

Ecological globalization calls for the economical use of resources and the prevention of pollution on all continents. As we see it, anyone who thinks ecologically has to act technologically.

Bosch has always been an advocate of efficient energy conversion – converting diesel or gasoline into mechanical energy in cars, or oil and gas into heat for the home. We were quick to see how our automotive technology in particular could be used to help protect the environment and conserve resources. In the wake of the first oil crisis in 1973, we developed our 3-S program to make driving safer, cleaner, and more economical. This program has culminated in our current slogan “Invented for life.” But our activities to protect the environment and the climate do not stop at automobiles. Our expertise in the area of metering, governing, and control means that we can help save energy and reduce emissions not only in automotive technology, but also in industrial technology and in consumer goods and building technology.

• We have set up such a broad regional and sectoral base that we can provide technological answers to the challenge of climate change that go beyond Europe and the automobile.
• We have branched out into new fields in order to promote technologies for harnessing renewable energies.

To meet the rising worldwide demand for reduced fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions from vehicles, we intend to make the pioneering innovations we have introduced in Europe available the world over. In the second half of 2008, we shall fulfill the strict U.S. pollution standard (Tier 2 Bin 5) with our Denoxtronic system for exhaust-gas treatment. We expect this will also boost the sales of our clean diesel technology in the U.S., since it emits around 25 percent less CO₂ than a gasoline engine thanks to its reduced fuel consumption.

In North America, we estimate that the share of newly registered light vehicles powered by diesel will increase from today’s six percent to 15 percent by 2015. The “clean diesel” may become established even faster in Asia. The driving force behind this development is emission standards that can only be fulfilled with high-pressure injection systems. In 2007 alone, we sold a good 100,000 common-rail systems in China, and the same number in India. By 2010, there will be 900,000 such systems in India, and roughly 1.4 million in China. Even if we expect the share of new vehicles equipped with diesel to rise in Europe as a result of tighter carbon dioxide limits, the focus of growth is shifting to the other two major economic regions of the world. While we currently sell only one-fifth of our high-pressure injection systems in Asia and America, in 2015 this figure will be nearly 50 percent.

We are working with automakers to unlock additional potential for cutting fuel consumption and thus for reducing CO₂ emissions. For example, we are pressing ahead with further developments in diesel engine management, which will result in an additional reduction in CO₂ emissions of up to ten percent – and this in an engine that is already very economical. And we are combining the internal-combustion engine and electric motor to create a hybrid drive system. Compared with a classic port-injection gasoline engine, a gasoline hybrid reduces CO₂ emissions by 25 percent. We have developed a prototype for the diesel hybrid that is even more economical.

Above and beyond improvements in powertrain technology, we also envisage a series of technological solutions that will cut consumption and emission levels still further. We use the term “eco-innovations” to describe products and systems that save fuel during actual driving but which are not defined in the New European Driving Cycle, or only partly so. These include applications in thermal and vehicle electrical system management, and navigation systems that determine the most economical route in terms of fuel consumption. Examples of series-ready products include our ultra-efficient alternators, which reduce CO₂ emissions by between two and four percent, and the start-stop system, which was taken into series production in 2007. This innovation cuts emissions in urban traffic by as much as eight percent.

There is also considerable potential for maximizing climate protection in private households. Take our energy-efficient household appliances, for example. The refrigerators we produce today use up to 79 percent less energy than the ones produced in 1990. In the U.S., Bosch is the only brand to be awarded the “Energy Star” by the Environmental Protection Agency EPA in all product segments.

Our condensing boilers, which use up to 30 percent less gas or oil than conventional systems, also play a part in climate protection. Furthermore, we also use solar and geothermal energy to leverage potential when modernizing heating systems. In 2007, for instance, our Thermotechology division generated 12 percent of its sales with systems that utilize renewable energy. By 2015, these types of systems will account for a quarter of the European thermotechnology market. In Germany, this figure will already have risen to 30 percent in 2009. In response to this rapid development, we are expanding our manufacturing capacities for solar collectors, taking a new production line into operation in Aveiro, Portugal, in 2007. In the field of geothermal energy, we became the world market leader for electric heat pumps as a result of our acquisitions in Sweden and the U.S. .

The large gear units and systems for rotor-blade adjustment manufactured by our subsidiary Bosch Rexroth are the core components of wind turbines. With sales in 2007 increasing from 120 to 160 million euros, we intend to greatly expand our production capacities for gear units, investing around 300 million euros worldwide in the next few years. At the same time, we are developing innovative solutions such as differential gears for multi-megawatt-class wind turbines. Bosch Rexroth is the largest independent supplier of wind turbine components in the industry.