Power-wise, your cell phone usage for a year equals driving your car for an hour

Mobile communications (ie, cell phones) are not an industry that springs to mind when you think about environmental polluters or having a significant carbon footprint. According to a white paper from power systems vendor Ericsson, approximately 0.14 per cent of global CO₂ emissions and approximately 0.12 per cent of primary energy use are attributable to mobile telecom. (Compare this to 20 per cent of CO₂ emissions and approximately 23 per cent of primary energy use for travel and transport.) And the annual CO₂ footprint of the average mobile subscriber is around 25kg, comparable to  driving an average car on the motorway for one hour or running a 5W lamp for a year.

On the other hand, mobile communications is an extremely price-competitive industry, where power makes up a significant amount of operating costs – the ability to save on power usage is an enticing carrot for mobile network operators. Ericsson’s white paper suggests optimizing energy in mobile communications through a three-step process;

First, mobile communication networks need to be dimensioned with as few equipment sites as possible, while maintaining the desired coverage, capacity and quality.

Second, the energy efficiency of individual products,  as well as that of entire sites, must be optimized – for example, through the deployment of small, efficient sites where large cells are impractical, such as in hilly terrain or to serve small populations in isolated areas.

Third, there needs to be ongoing research and development into the use of renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind and biofuels.