China’s IT Industry Needs New Approach to Cut Emissions, Experts Say

New strategies and technologies are needed to bring down energy consumption and reduce carbon emissions by China’s information technology and telecoms industries, according to leading experts, as the world’s largest emitter strives to meet ambitious climate goals.

The country’s information and communications technology (ICT) sector — which includes the world’s largest 5G network and second-biggest data center industry — accounts for about 25% of total energy consumption by the industry globally, Zhou Hongren, former executive vice chairman of the Advisory Committee for State Informatization, said at a summit on Tuesday.

With the rollout of 5G networks, electricity usage by the nation’s communications networks has increased by 14.6% compared with 2019, Wu Hequan, academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said at the 1st China Digital Carbon Neutrality Summit held in Chengdu, Sichuan province.

Electricity consumption by data centers and 5G base stations in China is on track to increase by 289% between 2020 and 2035, according to a Greenpeace East Asia report released in May. Meanwhile, emissions from China’s digital infrastructure are also projected to rise to 310 million tons by 2035, the report stated, long after those from other sectors in the country peak.

Each 5G base station consumes two to three times more power than a 4G station, and the total number of 5G base stations is two to three times that of 4G infrastructure in China, said Wu.

“This means that the total energy consumption of 5G could be four to nine times that of 4G,” Wu said.

At the same time, the number of internet users in China reached 1.01 billion in June, with users spending on average four hours a day online, Zhou said.

Citing International Telecommunication Union standards that have required the ICT industry to reduce carbon emissions by 45% within a decade, Wu suggested strategies such as shutting down some 5G base stations at night in selected areas to help save power.

In August last year, a China Unicom branch in the central city of Luoyang, Henan province took some of its 5G base stations offline between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. to reduce electricity costs.

Wu also suggested cooperation between telecom operators such as China Unicom and China Telecom to build and share 5G networks, which can reduce the total number of 5G base stations by 20% to 30%.

As for improving energy efficiency in data centers, Wu suggested adapting wind tunnel designs and waste heat recovery technologies.

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China’s Cloud Firms Show How Big Tech Is Far From Green, Greenpeace Says

China, the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, vowed in September last year to bring its carbon emissions to a peak by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, an ambitious pledge seen by climate scientists as critical for mitigating the worst effects of global warming.

The nation’s latest five-year plan also aims to scale up renewable energy generation over the coming decade and invest in infrastructure improvements like power transmission and storage technologies.

Contact reporter Kelsey Cheng (kelseycheng@caixin.com) and editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)

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