Transforming the mobile base station

Harmful carbon dioxide emissions from mobile base stations today total 22 megatons, but that could be reduced by 30% to 15.6 Mt by 2014, according to a report from Juniper Research. Getting from here to there will require instituting “transformational strategies” to reduce site inefficiencies and non-renewable energy resources, Juniper said, but most telecom operators today are opting for an incremental approach that may end up hurting more than it helps.

The transformational model put forth by Dr. Windsor Holden, analyst with Juniper, would require operators to substantially invest in power reduction in the base station and place greater emphasis on addressing issues such as cooling, network planning and power management. If these goals are met, total base station emissions would peak in 2010 and drop to 15.6 Mt by 2014, he said.

In a more likely scenario, however, operators will adopt an incremental approach in which they — and their vendor partners — don't become fully proactive in “going green,” outside of delivering short- and medium-term objectives outlined in current corporate social responsibility documentation. In that case, emissions will actually rise at an average rate of more than 6% over the next five years to nearly 35 Mt, Juniper found.

While grid energy today is cheaper than renewable energy, there is a clear need for renewable energy from an emissions perspective. This could become more compelling depending on government regulations and emissions trading, Holden said. Further, relying on renewable resources rather than diesel-powered generators will bring reductions in operating costs based on the rising price of fuel. In most cases, the operator would get payback in three to five years or even sooner, Holden said, given that the implied cost of renewable energy is typically between 15 to 25 cents of power versus diesel, which is 50 cents, all told. “The cost of diesel, regardless of what you use, will always go up, and the cost of renewable energy is going to come down,” he said.