The Wireless Communications Industry and its Carbon Footprint

 With consumers becoming increasingly more mindful of their influence on the global environment, the call for more sustainable goods and services is greater than ever before.

In the United Kingdom, a company called Honest Mobile recently announced the debut of the UK's first carbon-neutral mobile network. Through emissions offsetting reforestation, the company said it can essentially provide carbon-neutral calls, texts and data. Honest Mobile stated that it will commit 1% of its revenue to reforestation. In the company’s app, customers can see how many trees Honest Mobile has planted on their behalf.

The wireless communications industry is not the first industry that comes to mind when people talk about emissions or increased sustainability, but actually, it does represent a significant share of global carbon emissions. According to research published by mobile phone maker Ericsson, the overall telecommunications industry accounts for about 1.4% of emissions worldwide. By comparison, the aviation industry generates 2% of all global carbon emissions.

In total, personal devices make up the biggest share of the telecommunications industry’s carbon footprint. About 50% of device-related emissions are associated with usage and the other 50% is associated with device life cycle. Networks and data centers account for the next biggest emission shares in the telecom industry.

Though people and their devices have comprised the majority of wireless communications, the growth of automation and the Internet of Things (IoT) will probably drive the rapid expansion of data networks. The amount of people using wireless networks is projected to develop at a linear rate, while difference between computer science and computer engineering use is expected to increase exponentially.