What is Green Telecom?
All of us would like to stay close to nature, see greenery around us, feel freshness pervading our neighborhood. And how nice it would be to help nature come closer to us. The telecom sector, or the ICT sector as a whole, should naturally play a role since ICT-dependent appliances are very close to us in our households as well as in the workplace. This is where ‘green’ telecom steps in. It implies that starting from the building to the equipment, machinery and the end product, not forgetting the ancillaries, everything should be as ‘green’ as is feasible through our present state of knowledge. We can be sure of one more aspect: our capabilities will certainly keep on evolving and improving. It should also be appreciated at the outset that telecommunication and related industries play a vital role in two main streams of our activity – in introducing carbon-reduction technologies and in monitoring global warming. Thus, we see that telecom and the environment are interdependent and can work to assist each other.

On the International Front
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU ) has been emphasizing the need for the introduction of eco-friendly elements in all telecom and ICT-related equipment and services. A recent symposium on ICTs and climate change in Quito, Ecuador, in July 2009, recommended that global efforts to combat climate change would facilitate economic and social growth and also that the ICT sector must limit its own carbon footprint. It naturally follows that the increased use of ‘green’ construction materials, renewable energy coupled with ‘green’ purchasing policies and methodologies can provide tangible assistance towards achieving the objective of ‘green telecom.’

It is therefore necessary to call upon public and private entities at the national as well as international level to include in their activities and projects the analysis and study of the impact that telecommunications and ICTs have on climate change.

Establishing ‘Green’ Telecom Systems
Going by ITU reports, the ICT sector contributes 2-2.5 percent of the total global warming effects. These figures would be much more important for countries like India and China where the ICT sector is becoming an integral part of the economic development and, moreover, its growth is unprecedented.

In India, as in many other neighboring countries, the telecom networks are expanding in a phenomenal manner. Urban and rural teledensity of 100 percent and 30 percent respectively has been achieved in India with over 500 million subscribers; the government is taking action on several fronts to further increase the teledensity and penetration of broadband. It is expected that India will have 900 million mobile and 40 million broadband subscribers by the year 2012. Similar action is afoot in many other neighboring countries, correspondingly resulting in the exponential growth of telecom networks in the region.

A holistic view shows that development and management of green telecom systems should aim at making the following components green or as green as possible with today’s and tomorrow’s technologies:

materials and substances
operational cycle
waste disposal
R &D activities


Materials and Substances
Let us look at building materials. The ‘Green buildings’ movement has already been going on for the past few years with the objective of some components being designed as ‘net zero’ structures. The same philosophy is being adopted for telecom components with a special emphasis being placed on achieving low heat dissipation. The trend is towards designing systems that do not need much cooling, air conditioning or heating and can operate at ambient temperatures. Also, heating and cooling systems are being designed to run on eco-friendly energy sources. Lighting has also undergone a sea change, with the arrival of CFL, liquid crystals and LED s, which consume 1/10 of the energy of conventional systems.

The Energy Front
Let us look at the energy front, which is emerging as the most important aspect to tackle. It is obvious that the larger the equipment, the greater the energy requirement. Today, such energy – in excess of 1 kilowatt – is being provided by diesel generators, which leave a large carbon footprint. Moreover, the health hazards are considerable and these pervade the human as well as animal kingdom. With the awareness of our environment gradually taking a firm hold in our thinking, it follows that we must devise telecommunication systems in sub-sets of a smaller size – spatially separated – so that it is able to serve a large area or a large population, and yet requires less energy than, say, 1 kilowatt at each location.

The question of eco-friendly energy sources has been under intense consideration by telecom professionals all over the world. Apart from the development of energy-efficient technology, power has been a major problem for rural telecommunications in India. Recently, the Department of Telecommunications has decided to offer financial support from the Universal Services Obligation Fund to telecom players using renewable sources of energy to power their base stations in rural areas. Under certain conditions, it will give Rs 5 million per installation for mobile towers running on solar or wind or some other type of renewable energy. Notwithstanding the usual governmental approach, this move indicates the government’s thrust towards providing affordable telecom facilities in rural India. Similar efforts are being made at various fronts in neighboring Asia-Pacific countries.

The following eight approaches have been considered in the past:


Solar energy
Wind energy
Tidal / Lunar energy
Scattered electromagnetic energy (Nokia is reported to have utilized this for certain handsets)
Pico Hydel
Biomass
Fuel cell
Other new technologies that might be developed in future

Another area of concern is the use of the diesel engine-alternator sets for running mobile systems particularly in rural areas where commercial power is available only for a part of the day. This naturally causes an enormous degradation of the environment. According to one estimate, India would require more than 3,00,000 towers by the end of 2010, out of which about 80 percent would be installed in rural areas. These will mount antennas and other associated equipment for nearly 750,000 base stations which are estimated to consume about 16 billion liters of diesel a year. The annual carbon emission as a result thereof would be about 40 million tons. In view of the explosive growth of mobile telephony in India, by 2015 these figures are likely to double. Climate change has become a major policy issue globally, because the rate at which greenhouse gas emissions are rising is exceeding the worst-case scenarios of environmental scientists. Therefore, telecom policy should make it incumbent on rural operators to employ clean energy sources.

Waste Disposal
Here it needs to be acknowledged that e-waste is a growing problem. Efforts must be made to dispose of mobile phones, computers, etc., in an environment-friendly manner and to reduce and avoid the use of toxic materials in the production stage. The re-use of ICT equipment also needs to be encouraged. Some manufacturers have started inviting their consumers to deposit discarded pieces at specified locations, which is a healthy trend. And such measures would also enable re-use in the most efficient manner.

R&D Activities
Some private operators in India have developed microcellular systems run by solar power. Recently, the effort of one such company has gained international recognition by receiving “The Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award 2009.” Such developments are likely taking place in other neighboring countries, too. Governments should support such efforts so that India and the region becomes an exporter of clean technologies and thus contributes to the global efforts of reducing carbon emissions, without affecting economic development. There are reports of energy-efficient engine alternators being developed for rural areas. Lightweight base station arrays have been designed for rural applications.

Some Emerging Action Points
In order to take care of the climate issues and arrive at green solutions for telecom systems, it would thus be necessary to initiate certain actions. First of all, the design of the rural network needs to be engineered in such a way that energy requirements are minimized. And furthermore, the systems themselves should be eco-friendly along the lines indicated earlier. Networks designed for urban applications cannot be retrofitted.

Furthermore, insofar as rural areas are concerned, care should be taken to tailor the networks for the specific needs of such areas. The rural customer has, broadly speaking, two types of requirements. He needs to be in mobile contact all the time and at home he needs to be able to get from his TV set, that is, in audiovisual format, the information that he needs for his business and entertainment for his family where literacy level might be a limiting factor. We have to find eco-friendly solutions to provide him with these facilities without contributing much to the global carbon footprint. The electronics installed in rural areas must not require air conditioning, and suitable design features to improve energy efficiency should be introduced.

There is a need for stringent norms for energy efficiency, emissions and carbon footprint, not only for manufacturers, but also for operators. The type of approach mentioned in this article requires actions which are quite achievable and can soon result in green telecommunications, with the least resource wastage and minimum environmental impact. Such would be the concept of a telecom professional who has an eco friendly temperament.