Can 5G Save The Planet?

Climate Change’s Unlikely Ally

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Delivering everything from speed and security to support for cutting-edge applications like driverless cars, the 5G future promises more. Yet to contribute to global efforts to mitigate climate change, the next generation of wireless networking will need to deliver less in one key area: energy consumption.

Experts estimate that by next year, information and communications technology will account for 3.5 percent of annual global carbon emissions, a larger share than for either the aviation or shipping industry. That figure could jump to 14 percent by 2040, roughly equivalent to the percentage now attributable to the entire population of the United States.

5G could play a significant role in that rise. A world of many more devices—security cameras, smart televisions, connected factory robots—transmitting much more data will require far more power, what the telecom-sustainability expert Anders Andrae calls a potential “perfect storm” of increased energy consumption.