An Analysis of Renewable Energy Usage by Mobile Data Network Operators

The exponential growth in mobile data traffic has resulted in massive energy usage and therefore has increased the carbon footprint of the Internet. Data network operators have taken significant initiatives to mitigate the negative impacts of carbon emissions (CE). Renewable Energy Sources (RES) have emerged as the most promising way to reduce carbon emissions. This article presents the role of renewable energy (RE) in minimizing the environmental impacts of mobile data communications for achieving a greener environment. In this article, an analysis of some selected mobile data network operators’ energy consumption (EC) has been presented. Based on the current statistics of different mobile network operators, the future energy values are estimated. These estimations of carbon emissions are based on the predicted data traffic in the coming years and the percentage consumption of energy from renewable sources by the network operators. The analysis presented in this article would be helpful to develop and implement energy policies that accelerate the process of increasing the renewable shares in total energy requirements. Incrementing the share of renewable energy in total energy requirements can be a way forward to reach Goal 7 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).