The arrival of 5G and private 5G wireless networks brings impressive features to enterprises and consumers alike. However, there are downsides to 5G, such as the increased power needed to transmit all our data. Radios consume most of the energy at a cell site and are getting hungrier for more power. Massive MIMO radios, with scores of elements, need more energy than earlier generation equipment, and the sheer number of cell sites required for 5G is far beyond those of an LTE network. On the upside, though, 5G is more energy efficient when looking at the energy required to transmit data on a per-unit basis. For example, downloading a movie on your mobile phone on 5G uses less energy than downloading the same movie on an LTE handset due to better encoding schemes and wider data channels.
Roughly 83% of telecom respondents rate the importance of energy efficiency in the 5G strategy as extremely or very important. The 5G networks of the world will more than balance the environmental scales for the increase in power they need by making the industries they support more eco-friendly, saving electricity and water, reducing pollution, and making people’s lives safer.
How the Pandemic Helped the Sustainability Issue
Thanks to the efforts made to combat the COVID-19 virus, industry discovered that many of their business trips could be handled via a video call; indeed, this “could have been handled by a video call” became a recurring mantra among executives. “Business travel has “forever changed,” Greg Hayes, CEO of jet-engine maker Raytheon Technologies Corp., said in a Bloomberg Radio interview in July [2021]. While the market may eventually recover, sophisticated communication technologies have “really changed our thinking in terms of productivity,” Hayes said.”
A survey of large businesses worldwide showed that “84% plan to spend less on travel post-pandemic”, citing the “ease and efficiency of virtual software, cost savings and lower carbon emissions.” With commercial air travel responsible for 3-4% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, lowering the number of miles flown by business users could significantly impact global warming.
The pandemic also changed how many practice and receive medical care globally. A five-year study stated, “The rapid and widespread adoption of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic has had significant environmental health benefits, primarily through reducing transportation-associated emissions…” Another company tracked 1.5 million telehealth visits over more than 1,400 locations during the first 13 months of the pandemic and “found that those visits equate to 37,440,731 miles not traveled and 1,678,956 gallons of gas saved.” Additionally, “…all that time not spent on the road reduced traffic congestion (and driver stress, for that matter) and resulted in 15,092 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions not coming out of the tailpipe, which in turn translates to roughly 18,490 acres of forest saved.”
The arrival of 5G, with faster throughput and better video quality, will keep video conferencing for business meetings and virtual medical visits alive, saving valuable resources.
Helping our Four-Legged Friends
5G networks are helping the animal kingdom, using audio, video, and geolocation techniques available with the high-speed and low latency inherent to 5G. The Rainforest Connection worked with Huawei, using A.I. and 5G, to help preserve the Costa Rican rainforest. They placed sound recorders that used A.I. to recognize the sounds made by chainsaws and other equipment, allowing rangers to detect illegal poaching and logging and react quickly.
The black and white pandas are endangered animals and are averse to having humans check on them. Using 5G and 8k live video feeds, veterinarians and other animal personnel can keep a close eye on the pandas while not disturbing them.
Many animal researchers use geolocation to track their subjects to know if they stay in safe areas or have inadvertently moved to a location with known predators.
High-tech Farming Helps the Agricultural Industry
5G and private networks are having a massive impact on the agricultural community, saving farmers time and money, conserving water, and reducing pesticide use.
Globally, usage of freshwater sits at roughly 70% for agriculture. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture states, “The agriculture industry accounts for approximately 80% of water consumption in the U.S.,” hence any efforts to conserve water can have a considerable impact. The use of 5G networks allows input from sensors that determine if crops need to be watered and, if so, how much they need, saving water and avoiding oversaturation of the land.
Saving water is not the only benefit to be gained from agricultural sensors. Drones that can quickly and safely carry hundreds of pounds of fertilizer, herbicides, and pesticides can apply just the needed amount, saving money for farmers. Livestock can be tracked not only for location but health and fertility. Manufacturer John Deere connects farms, equipment, and factories with 5G private networks.
“Agriculture is rapidly adopting transformative 5G technology to monitor the environmental conditions for optimum plant growth and track, feed, monitor livestock and even milk cows without human intervention,” says Professor Mak Sharma at Birmingham City University. “Other examples include the ploughing, sowing, feeding, health monitoring and harvesting of crops autonomously and without human intervention using 5G connected farm machinery.”
Traffic Flows Improve with Real-time Data
Using networked sensors and cameras, 5G networks will keep traffic flowing more smoothly, counting the number of vehicles on the road and their speed, and adjusting traffic lights. “Carnegie Mellon’s Metro21: Smart Cities Institute’s smart traffic control system, which employs radar and cameras to reduce idling, has resulted in 20 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions in Pittsburgh.”
In China’s Hangzhou province, a smart highway project is piloting a real-time video feed of road conditions that has resulted in 15% fewer crashes, 15% less traffic congestion, and a 20% improvement in workload efficiencies for the road response teams.
I See Things… Remotely
One of the simpler, although data-intensive, applications being used in private wireless networks and helping save the environment around the world, is the use of HD video, allowing work to be done remotely, saving time, money, and energy.
Factories are allowing remote visual inspection of their manufactured goods to be approved by quality assurance personnel off-site, saving valuable travel expenses and lowering their carbon footprint.
Mines are using drones equipped with HD video to map sites and, with additional sensors, enter dangerous areas ahead of mine personnel. Drones can cover large areas safely, performing aerial mapping in a fraction of the time it would take people on the ground.
Utilities use smart sensors and drones to monitor transmission lines, reducing wildfire risk. A Chinese company began in 2019 using a drone to “carry out inspections of large sections of its gas pipeline,” replacing the “traditional approach of using a petrol-powered vehicle plus a team of three inspectors.”
In the medical field, remote 5G consultation allows medical experts to diagnose remotely, removing the need for doctors to travel to remote locations. In one study, “while the number and quality of consultations and diagnoses has remained unchanged,” the “elimination of road and air travel … led to a massive 99% reduction in GHG [Greenhouse Gasses] emissions associated with these expert consultation sessions.”
Conclusion
5G will have much more impact on the world than most people realize. The advances it brings to our mobile phones will be enormous, with fantastic upload and download speeds, but this is merely the tip of the iceberg. While the telecommunications industry brings us a new generation of wireless connectivity roughly every decade, this will be the first time the new capabilities affect other industries as much or more than itself. The environmental, ecological, and safety gains that will be seen by the use of 5G and private networks will surpass anything now considered.
