Mobile and Environmental
Sustainability
20 September 2012
Mobile Energy Efficiency
© GSM Association 2011
Executive summary
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In July 2012 the GSMA published “Mobile’s Green Manifesto 2012” which
presented aggregate data derived from the Mobile Energy Efficiency (MEE)
benchmarking project and quantified the industry’s enabling potential
In 2010, mobile network energy consumption (120 terawatt hours) and
carbon emissions (70 million tonnes) are low compared to other industries
such as aviation (650 million tonnes of carbon emissions)
Despite considerable growth in connections and traffic between 2009 and
2010, global mobile network energy consumption increased only modestly, by
1.6%, and declined per connection (5.4%) and per unit of traffic (19%)
Mobile enabled an emissions reduction of approximately 3 million tonnes of
carbon in 2011. However, mobile has the potential to reduce 900 million
tonnes of carbon in 2020, largely driven by machine to machine connections
gaining scale
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The GSMA’s Mobile Energy Efficiency service benchmarks energy
consumption for 35 operators representing over 200 networks
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The benchmarking output assists in the measurement and
management of industry energy costs and carbon emissions
2010:
100%
5 bn
120 TWh
$13 bn
70 Mt
90%
South & Central America
80%
East Europe
70%
Middle East
60%
West Europe
50%
40%
Africa
30%
USA & Canada
20%
Asia Pacific
10%
0%
Connections
Energy
Consumption
Energy Cost
CO2
Emissions
If all networks with above average energy consumption are improved to the industry
average, this implies a potential energy cost saving of $1 billion per annum at 2010
prices. Improving to the top quartile saves potentially over $2 billion annually
Source: GSMA. Note costs exclude the capital cost of diesel generators and their maintenance
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Estimated total industry mobile network energy increased slightly
from 2009 to 2010, but decreased per connection and per unit traffic
Estimated Total industry
RAN + Core Energy
TWh
140
120
30
+1.6%
119
Estimated Total industry RAN
+ Core Energy per connection
kWh / connection
40
25.5
121
Estimated Total industry RAN
+ Core Energy per unit traffic
kWh / GB
25
-5.4%
24.1
35
33.6
-19%
30
100
20
25
80
15
20
60
15
10
40
27.2
10
20
5
0
0
2009
2010
5
0
2009
2010
2009
2010
Note: This analysis is based on 34 networks where data for 2009 and 2010 was high quality, with the % changes applied to estimated
global totals and averages. The dataset was equally split between developed and emerging markets but not truly representative as the
growth in connections was lower than the true global total. The definition of energy here is total energy, whether from electricity or
diesel
Source: GSMA
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Mobile has the potential to enable significant reduction of GHG
emissions and energy costs
Industry Areas
Mobile enablement of energy and GHG reduction
Smart Grids & Meters
Electricity network monitoring
Smart meter: assist with micro-generation for buildings
Smart meter: grid loading optimisation
Transport & Logistics
Fleet management
Traffic monitoring, connected road signs, traffic lights
Buildings,
Dematerialisation, Other
Increasing building automation and control
Remote or smart working
Near field communication
Smart motors
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Mobile has the potential to enable emissions savings that are
much greater than its own emissions
Forecast mobile GHG emissions vs. enabled GHG emissions savings, Mt CO2e
1000
900
900
3.5 billion
M2M
connections
800
700
600
500
400
200
100
100 billion
M2M
connections
26 million
M2M
connections
300
80
75
70
3
18
0
Mobile
Enabled
Network Emission
Emissions Savings
2010
2011
Mobile
Enabled
Network Emission
Emissions Savings
2015
2015
Note: Includes dematerialisation. Excludes double-counting and rebound effects
Source: GSMA Analysis
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Mobile
Enabled
Network Emissions
Emissions Savings
2020
2020
potential
Smart grids and meters have the largest potential for mobileenabled emissions reduction
Potential GHG emission savings in smart grids & meters, Mt CO2e, 2020
200
Total smart grids and
meters = 361 Mt CO2e
180
10
11
13
15
16
160
140
120
100
9
19
Latin America
42
Middle East
Europe: East
Europe: West
80
US & Canada
60
108
40
Africa
76
Asia Pacific
20
15
10
0
Electricity network Smart meter: micro- Smart meter: grid
loading optimisation
generation
monitoring
Note: Excludes double-counting and rebound effects
Source: GSMA Analysis
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Transportation and logistics is the other main area where mobile
enabled emissions reduction is high
Potential GHG emission savings in transport & logistics, Mt CO2e, 2020
350
Total smart transportation
and logistics = 330 Mt CO2e
300
75
250
Africa
200
Middle East
86
Latin America
150
Europe: East
100
Asia Pacific
128
50
0
Fleet management - road
Europe: West
9
Traffic volume monitoring,
Connected road signs (incl
variable speed limits and
variable lanes), Traffic lights
Note: Excludes double-counting and rebound effects
Source: GSMA Analysis
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US & Canada
Conclusions
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The mobile industry needs to continue to address its own emissions, both in
terms of measurement and management
To fulfil the significant potential to enable emissions reductions, more work
needs to be done to understand how to accelerate growth to fully exploit the
potential. Reasons why the enabled emissions reduction today appears
relatively low may include the the slow speed of smart grid launches, and the
lack of capex in the fleet management sector during tough economic times,
but this needs further study
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