5G mobile technology will play a critical role in greening the UK’s economy after the pandemic, delivering sizeable reductions in carbon emissions that will steer the UK closer to its net zero ambition, a new report from O2 today argues. The report contends that the application of 5G networks across four industries – transport, utilities and home energy, manufacturing, and healthcare – could help the UK save as much as 269 megatonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) by 2035, the equivalent of all of England’s 2018 carbon emissions combined.
It argues the mobile technology can enable ultra-fast communication between the myriad devices working to steer Britain’s economy towards a net zero future, including smart meters that allow households to monitor and reduce their carbon consumption, autonomous vehicles, and smart grids. The lion’s share of carbon reductions savings geneated by the introduction of 5G technology over the next 15 years will come from the powering of smart thermostats and heat pumps that eliminate the need for gas powered heating, according to the report. In total, 5G-enabled smart heating could remove up to 138 megatonnes of CO2 between now and 2035, it said.
And overall, 5G networks could save the utilities and home energy sector 181 megatonnes of CO2 through a number of measures, including the smarter transfer of energy from electric vehicles straight to the national grid. The report estimates 5G could also be responsible for the removal of 43 megatonnes of carbon across the transport sector by 2035, as people become more comfortable working from home and 5G-powered autonomous vehicles and smart clean tech become more commonplace. The vast majority of estimated transport reductions relate to 5G innovations and technologies allowing people to work from home more effectively, according to the report.
The study, which O2 produced with market research consultancy IC&Co and clean tech consultancy Cenex, also forecasts that 5G could prompt the removal of a further 40 megatonnes of carbon in the manufacturing sector, as increased automation drives efficiencies and delivers improvements to productivity. The report comes as O2 unveiled a ‘living billboard’ in East London made from moss and plant seeds and emblazoned with the words ‘Go Green’. The new report builds on O2’s plans to become a net zero emissions business by 2025, but it also comes at a time when the UK’s 5G roll out is facing a number of challenges.
Source: Business Green
Finnish site 
Global site