Increasingly, climate change is one of the main concerns facing societies and economies around the world. The effects are expected to cause enormous disruption and damage, with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicting that a warming of 1,5°C could cause sea levels to rise 0,4 meters by 2100, with up to 69 million of people exposed to flooding. Current global emissions targets will only be met by accelerating innovative technologies, allowing industries to pivot their organizations towards sustainable operations. Digital technology is perhaps the most powerful and scalable tool the world has to address climate change, and 5G is at the forefront of this effort. About the Author Peters Suh, North American Network and Connected Services Practice Leader, Accenture. Wireless network operators have already taken many steps to limit emissions, such as reducing power consumption, switching to more efficient network equipment, and supplying renewable energy. However, to offset the growth in data volumes on mobile networks, it will take more than improvements to existing networks. The impact of 5G is threefold in its potential to combat the effects of climate change: 5G, with its significantly higher energy efficiency, will reduce greenhouse gases, reduce emissions from other industries, and enable more accurate monitoring of our environment for help meet broader commitments. about climate change.
Fast and efficient deployment of 5G creates more efficient wireless networks
5G promises substantial improvements over current wireless technologies in terms of latency, throughput, and device connectivity, and as a result, the demand for data per device and the number of devices is expected to increase. However, despite the increase in demand, 5G allows network operators to be more energy efficient on a per unit output level. According to STL Partners, 5G offers the potential to enable a 98% reduction in power consumption per bit of data transmitted. This, in turn, translates into cumulative global savings of more than a billion tons of CO2 between 2020 and 2030, more than a year's worth of greenhouse gas emissions from all shipments or shipments from all aviation in the world. . This theory comes to life when innovative equipment manufacturers release hardware that combines multiple radio technologies into a single piece of equipment, resulting in energy savings per site. Technologies such as Network Function Virtualization (NFV), Software Defined Networking (SDN) and network slicing will allow operators to gain a greater degree of control over their networks, allowing them to monitor their power consumption, increasing or decreasing to meet demand. .
5G enables high-emission industries to reduce their own emissions
The latency and bandwidth improvements of 5G, combined with new technology features such as mobile computing (MEC), will also enable new use cases that will result in significant reductions in emissions from most verticals. It will change the way we live and work, resulting in substantial reductions in greenhouse gases. In a 5G-enabled smart city, data, sensors and connected devices help improve government services and quality of life for residents through analytics, artificial intelligence and automation that will enable a new generation of platforms and services. 5G is unique in its ability to serve as a platform for other disruptive technologies, including XR, IoT, and AI. Implementing these technologies across industries can drastically reduce energy consumption and help accelerate climate-saving initiatives, such as reducing travel through remote work. Other potential use cases include the implementation of 5G in connected transportation to reduce travel time and improve traffic management, or to enhance virtual conferences and trade shows, resulting in reductions in hotel room stays and travel-related programming.
A more connected society is more energy efficient
Beyond reducing carbon emissions, 5G will expand to create entire connected infrastructures that require the transmission of large amounts of data at very high speeds through a dense network of devices. The implications are numerous and span connected transportation, agriculture, cities, buildings, industry, energy, health, life, work, and physical and digital networks. For example, in agriculture, precision farming technology using 5G can increase crop yields and simultaneously reduce emissions produced by crops, using data collection, big data analytics, and data collection technologies. Precision application controls to guide and optimize farm management practices. These techniques will allow a more precise monitoring of our environment, fighting against other forms of environmental degradation such as reducing the use of pesticides, improving irrigation systems or testing the quality of the environment. Water for drinking water consumption. We use 3G for texting and emailing. With 4G we can download videos and start connecting machines. 5G will enable a fully connected society. As a result, it plays a key role in the effort to meet emissions commitments and underpins our fight against climate change, both in telecommunication systems and in society as a whole.