Can 5G Help Reduce Carbon Emissions?

Assumptions and methodology are key to making sense of any prediction about the future. Accenture, for example, claims in a study authored for CTIA that 5G networks can contribute 20 percent of carbon emission reductions for the United States by 2025. 

You can draw your own conclusions about whether that is possible, or not. 

“Accenture developed a model that quantifies the avoided or reduced carbon emissions enabled by 5G mobile technology use cases across other industry verticals,” Accenture says. 

“The analysis found that by 2025, the 5G-enabled use cases laid out in this report would make possible up to 330.8 million tons of annual carbon dioxide abatement, equivalent to removing 71.9 million passenger vehicles off the road for a year or carbon sequestered by 633,000 square miles of US forests in a year,” Accenture says. 

source: Accenture 

But assumptions are key. Accenture looks at traffic congestion management and usability of public transit--including ride sharing--and concludes that traffic congestion management by way of navigation apps can lead to a potential abatement of 10.7 MMtCO2e by 2025 while augmenting the usability of public transport can abate up to 6.3 MMtCO2. 

Of course, some might attribute improvements in traffic management to internet of things sensors and smart cars, more than 5G connectivity. Skeptics might point out that use of public transit is on the decline in the United States, and many believe ride sharing and private auto ownership explain why. 

Rich hipsters in urban cores might really believe autos are not the future, but higher incomes for low-income residents seems to be leading them to buy cars, and for the same reasons other customers do so: convenience, time savings and safety (the need not to take public transportation). 

The case for manufacturing use cases saving energy arguably rests on sounder foundations. “With 5G-enabled manufacturing, by 2025, the inventory management use case has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by 67.4 MMtCO2e in the United States,” Accenture notes. 

Others might attribute some of those savings to use of edge computing or internet of things sensors (“smart manufacturing”) rather than 5G. 

Likewise, “smart energy” solutions might represent 21 percent of all analyzed 5G-enabled carbon abatement in the United States by 2025, Accenture believes. We might debate whether “smart grids” are more important than building energy management, but both are part of that assessment. 

5G use cases in smart energy can enable up to 5.4 MMtCO2e emissions reduction while 5G use cases in smart buildings can enable 62.5 MtCO2e emissions reduction, Accenture says. 

Building energy management systems, commercial HVAC controls, and smart meters potentially contribute annual carbon abatement of 11.1, 32.2, and 19.2 MMtCO2e, respectively, in smart buildings. Additionally, smart grids and renewable microgrids (solar and wind) can contribute 3.0 and 2.3 MMtCO2e respectively to carbon abatement from smart energy, Accenture argues. 

Agriculture also can contribute, “Accenture believes. “We estimate that by 2025, 5G for connected crop management can contribute up to 27.8 MMtCO2e in carbon abatement annually.” 

Remote work also contributes. “ In our model, we project that 28.7 MMtCO2e of potential abatement will come from increased teleconferencing and work from home capabilities, of which 2.7 MMtCO2e will come from 5G fixed wireless access to more rural residents,” says Accenture. 

Throughout, the key assumption is “avoided” carbon emissions. That is a complicated exercise, to be sure. If you ever have tried to produce an estimate of your own energy footprint, you know how difficult it is to attribute energy content to any particular activity or function.