Huawei Technologies and ZTE are partnering to use technology that will help customers and suppliers cut their carbon footprint and embrace renewable energy in China.
The companies are helping the internet, transport and government sectors to increase energy efficiency and supporting renewable energy projects using their information and communications technology (ICT).
“Carbon neutrality has by and large become a globally recognised mission, one to which the ICT industry is actively contributing,” Liang Hua, chairman of Huawei, said. “These days, advancements in ICT are focusing more on using less energy to transmit, process and store more information, while making energy systems more efficient.”
With climate change becoming a global issue, sustainability has become more urgent for companies in the ICT industry. The Covid-19 pandemic has driven demand for digital communications, forcing telecoms companies to expand their carbon footprint by consuming more energy. That demand is likely to continue with remote learning and working expected to last after the pandemic.
The ICT industry currently accounts for three to four per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions, twice that of civil aviation. Its share of carbon emissions is expected to grow further with global data traffic growing by around 60 per cent per year. The need to cut emissions in the telecoms sector is urgent in China. Power consumption from 5G in the country is expected to skyrocket 488 per cent by 2035, making it one of the fastest-growing sources of internet sector emissions.
Huawei has been using its digital technology to help more than 170 countries and regions generate 325 billion kWh of electricity from renewable sources and save 10 billion kWh of electricity, reducing 160 million tonnes of CO2 emissions to date.
