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Slide 1: Unwiring the Planet - Wireless Communications and Climate Change Jack Rowley, PhD, Director Research & Sustainability Dawn Haig-Thomas, Director Development Fund ITU International Symposium ICTs and Climate Change 17-18 June 2008 London, UK. © GSM Association 2008
Slide 2: Mobile Communications – Environmental Impacts • Global impact - about 0.1% of the total CO2 emissions. • UK impact – about 0.3% of CO2 emissions and around 1.8% of GDP. © GSM Association 2008 Sources: Forum for the Future (2006), UNEP (2008)
Slide 3: Mobile Communications – Environmental Impacts • Greater capacity with newer technologies – 8 fold increase. • Improved amplifier efficiency – 3 fold increase. • Modern base station can operate on 350 W. © GSM Association 2008 Source: Telefonica O2 Europe, T-Mobile, Ericsson
Slide 4: Frequency Allocations Effect Cell Size 10km 8.9 Cell Radius (dictates number of base stations) 5.5 3.9 4.7 100% 126% 328% 455% 675% 2.9 1230% 700 850 2100 2500 3500 5800 Frequency of operation of cellular mobile network, MHz Relative Capex, %, for network infrastructure investment © GSM Association 2008
Slide 5: Energy Use During Operations More than 80% of a mobile operators energy is used by masts and switch centres. Base station energy savings: – Handset Energy Use: – About 11% energy wasted is the charging process. • – – Equipment efficiency and optimum siting. Reduce active cooling. GSMA pilots of renewable energy and bio-fuels to power base stations. If 10% of mobile phone users turned off their chargers after use, the energy saved in one year could power 60,000 European homes. – EU Code of Conduct on Efficiency of External Power Supplies © GSM Association 2008
Slide 6: Alternative Power Opportunity Increase in Oil Price 1994-2008 About 1.6 bn people without access to grid electricity. Future mobile subscriber growth heavily dependant on off-grid. 100% diesel price increase since 2002. Source: Go-Tech Green Power Cost Reduction Opportunities & Technology Learning Curve & 1998 2020 Solar, wind and other green power technology costs are rapidly improving. Current deployments about 1000 sites worldwide. Source: NET Ltd © GSM Association 2008
Slide 7: Case Study – MTC, Namibia 90 day trial started in April 2007 involving GSMA Development Fund, Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) of Namibia and Motorola. Validate the use of wind and solar as feasible and cost-effective. – – – 6kW turbine mounted on a 15m mast with a 5.5m rotor diameter. 28kW solar panels mounted on a steel structure facing north. Batteries to provide 60 hours support time and monitoring electronics. Average of 198kWh of power per week (10kWh greater than necessary). Return on investment period of three years. MTC could save • • Results: – – – roughly 4,580kg CO2 annually versus grid electricity. an additional 649.25kgs CO2 annually by removing backup Diesel Generators. © GSM Association 2008
Slide 8: Mobile Phone Lifecycle © GSM Association 2008
Slide 9: GSMA Report - Mobile Phone Lifecycles About 900 million mobile phones sold in 2006. – – 50-80% as replacement phones. About 10% of new customers rely on a ‘used’ phone. Only about 5% of ‘unwanted’ phones. Perceived value is a major barrier to increased collection in all countries. Only waste components returned in some countries. Better engagement with informal sector needed for successful takeback in some countries. About 20 million phones collected globally. – – – – GSMA contributing to UNEP Mobile Phone Partnership Initiative to develop guidelines for environmentally sound management. © GSM Association 2008 http://www.gsmworld.com/health/wireless/lifecycle.shtml
Slide 10: Environmental Impact of Charger Incompatibility Gartner estimates 1.2 billion mobile phones will be sold in 2008. – Between 50% and 80% are replacement phones. • 50,000 to 82,000 tonnes of replacement chargers each year. Charger represents about 7% of the life-time energy cost of a phone. – 13.6 to 21.8 million tonnes CO2e each year in replacement chargers. Open Mobile Terminal Platform has similar recommendation. Source: GSMA analysis from UNEP, Gartner, Nokia, University of Southern Queensland data. Chinese government mandating single charger based on USB. – © GSM Association 2008
Slide 11: Environmental Benefits of Telecommunications Environmental burden of a roundtrip travel between Berkeley and Chicago . – ‘Wireless teleconferencing results in 1-3 orders of magnitude lower CO2, NOx, and SO2 emissions than business travel.’ Carbon reduction opportunities through telecommunications estimated at 4.9% of Australia’s total national emissions. Monitoring applications: – – Air pollution in Ghana. Animal movements in South Africa. © GSM Association 2008 Sources: Toffel and Horvath, Environ. Sci. Technol. (2004). Report by Climate Risk for Telstra (2007).
Slide 12: Conclusions Mobile communications is small but significant contributor. Opportunities for companies and individuals to reduce impacts. Operators and manufacturers recognise the need to contribute. Also potential direct and indirect environmental benefits. Need a more systematic analysis for the wireless sector. © GSM Association 2008
Slide 13: Thank You Contact : Dr Jack Rowley Job title : Director Research & Sustainability email address : jrowley@gsm.org Website: www.gsmworld.com/health Contact : Dawn Haig-Thomas Job title : Director, GSMA Development Fund email address : dhaigthomas@gsm.org Website: www.gsmworld.com/developmentfund © GSM Association 2008