Rajkumar Upadhyay, Adviser, TRAI
The increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has been a cause of growing concern in recent years. The information and communications technology (ICT) industry has a major role to play in this regard. According to estimates by Gartner, the ICT industry produces an estimated 2 per cent or 860 million tonnes (mt) of GHG emissions globally. Of this, the telecom sector contributes about 0.5 per cent, equivalent to 230 mt of GHG emissions.
By 2020, the ICT industry is expected to account for about 3 per cent of the harmful emissions worldwide. Further, the contribution of telecom infrastructure in increasing the carbon footprint is expected to increase from 25 per cent of the total ICT emissions to 30 per cent. Moreover, it is estimated that 51 per cent of the total emissions from the telecom industry will be contributed by the mobile segment.
To address this issue, telecom operators and vendors, along with the government and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), have been devising ways to reduce the sector?s carbon footprint.
Key drivers
Some of the key drivers for the adoption of green initiatives are as follows:
? The need to reduce energy costs in the opex of telecom networks
? The need to expand networks into the rural areas, where power availability is poor
? Support from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the Universal
Service Obligation Fund for solar/ solar-wind hybrid power projects
? Creating sustainable businesses by creating products and services and minimising the environmental impact
Industry initiatives
Telecom operators and vendors have been working on several initiatives to develop energy efficient network solutions. They are also striving to ensure that their customers use energy efficient handsets. Investments are being made for designing base station sites that have low-energy consumption and are powered by renewable energy. The industry is also taking steps to reduce emissions in the total life cycle of mobile devices through recycling and design innovations.
Policy initiatives
The National Telecom Policy (NTP), 2012 is expected to provide a major fillip to the green agenda. The NTP, 2012 mandates that at least 50 per cent of the rural towers and 20 per cent of urban towers will be powered by hybrid solutions by 2015, which will be extended to 75 per cent of rural towers and 33 per cent of urban towers by 2020.
The policy also envisages the standardisation of all telecom products, equipment and services. By 2015, all equipment will be assessed in terms of its energy efficiency and performance level, and will be given a ?green passport? certification based on its energy consumption rating (ECR). The Telecom Engineering Centre will be appointed as the certifying agency to endorse telecom products, equipment and services on the basis of ECR ratings.
Apart from these measures, the NTP, 2012 has outlined green initiatives such as:
E-waste management: All mobile phones should be free of brominates and chlorinated compounds by 2015. This will be in accordance with the E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2010.
E-waste handling: Mobile manufacturers/distributors will be required to place collection bins at appropriate places for the collection of e-waste. This includes mobile phones, batteries and chargers. E-waste should be safely disposed of or recycled as per the prevailing standards.
Carbon footprint: Service providers should declare the carbon footprint of their network operations to TRAI twice a year.
Other initiatives
As per TRAI?s recommendations, service providers would be required to adopt a voluntary code of practice entailing energy efficient network planning, active infrastructure sharing, deployment of energy efficient technologies and adoption of renewable energy technologies.
Moreover, operators must progressively induct carefully designed and optimised energy efficient radio networks in their existing networks. These efforts are expected to restrict the total power consumption of each base transceiver station to less than 500 W by 2020.
The sharing of infrastructure, both passive and active, should be undertaken to minimise the development of new sites within the vicinity of existing towers. Further, a phased programme should be implemented for incorporating cell sites, particularly in rural areas, powered by hybrid renewable sources like wind, solar energy and fuel cells.
Service providers must also design a carbon credit plan in line with international carbon credit norms. The ultimate objective should be to achieve a 100 per cent carbon-neutral footprint in rural areas and 50 per cent in urban areas by 2020.
Further, TRAI has fixed the targets for limiting carbon emissions in the country to up to 8 per cent by 2012-13, 12 per cent by 2014-15, 17 per cent by 2016-17 and 25 per cent by 2018-19.
The way forward
In the coming years, there will be a greater regulatory emphasis on better network planning, and the adoption of energy efficient equipment and innovative technologies. The use of renewable energy and sharing of infrastructure along with improved grid power availability will also be encouraged. Apart from this, effective waste management, green manufacturing, green buildings, standardisation of equipment, test and certification, and collaborative reporting will be undertaken. For implementing these initiatives, government support in the form of subsidies, and rationalisation of taxes and levies would be essential.
