A centralized approach to measuring and managing network emissions data

Commercial context

As pressure mounts to reduce emissions, CSPs across the globe are taking a leading role by ensuring their infrastructure achieves carbon neutrality wherever possible. Beyond direct emissions, this means reducing indirect emissions such as those arising through supply chains, and also helping customers reduce their emissions too. To do this most effectively, the industry needs a standard way of measuring the output of its myriad components and systems, and containing them in a single interface where they can be analyzed and managed.

The solution

This has culminated in the Zero carbon intelligent network Catalyst, which aims to achieve emission reduction by creating an industry-wide measurement index that take can be used to accurately identify energy consumption based on network traffic volume, and service quality. The indexes are contained with an operation platform that can govern, plan and execute adjustments to the allocation of network resources, where needed. The Catalyst was also tasked with ensuring the solution could work in concert with systems used by customers too – enabling them to adjust their network use when necessary.

To build the index, the Catalyst team used six systems: network carbon intensity energy (NCIe),

energy efficiency index for the network level (NEE), site level (SEE), equipment level (TEE), renewable energy ratio (RER), and the vertical enablement index (VEI). The NCIe measures the carbon intensity of data transmission across networks, while the NEE, SEE, TEE measure the efficiency of energy usage at the network, site level and equipment level. RER is used to measure the use of renewable energy such as solar, wind and hydroelectrics. VEI is the ratio of emissions per solution benchmarked against what is typical for any given industry.

The platform itself streamlines data management, facilitates index settings and monitoring, automates processes, enables benchmarking, and provides scalability. Ultimately, it provides a means of detecting and how energy efficiency can be improved then implemented. For example, the platform can assess and recommend equipment upgrades with new materials, craftwork and components, as well technologies such as cross-domain site reconstruction, and overall processes like precise equipment room cooling. Moreover, the platform measures how all of this operates with various energy sources available in each geography.

Applications and wider value

The solution has been successfully demonstrated in several locations. At Shandong province, the operation platform has provided numerous valuable insights. For example, it has identified low energy efficiency radio units (RRU) and high energy consumption sites and has recommended single-band RRUs are replaced with multi-band RRUs, helping to save 263 kWh of electricity every year - a 21% power saving. 402 sites and 1437 SDHs have also been reconstructed following the implementation of the platform and its index. In many cases, indoor sites are replaced with or converted to outdoor sites, and air conditioners removed from equipment rooms. This is estimated to save 10.63 million kWh and reduce 3,720 tons of carbon every year. ROI for these reconstruction initiatives is estimated to be roughly two years.

Elsewhere, in Sichuan province, the operation platform has been used to minimize energy usage by collaborating multi-levels (network level, site level, equipment level) and multi-domains (time domain, frequency domain, spatial domain and power domain). Overall, this has reduced consumption from 315,573kW/h to 276,090kW/h. In Jiangsu province, another test bed for the Catalyst’s operational platform, results are similar. Here, the 27 base stations located at sea all use wind power, covering 60km of coastline. Based on the wind power availability and service traffic, the operation platform dynamically adjusts between power supply and storage, and has saved 0.86 million kWh of electricity, and avoided 720 tons of carbon emissions.

The platform has also shown its suitability to be deployed for vertical-specific applications for private 5G networks. This has been exhibited in Pangang’s unmanned iron mine in Zhulan. Here the platform increased mining efficiency by over 10% within the first day of operation. It enabled six mining trucks, three drills and three electric forklifts to operate intelligently and efficiently by using 5G, edge data centres, IoT, and BeiDou high-precision satellite technologies. Here, the total carbon emission reduction is estimated at 718 tons.

According to Zhang Sheng, China Mobile’s Communications Corporation, Senior Technical Manager, “the goal for China Mobile is to keep carbon emission at or below 56 million tons by 2025, and save 40 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity from 2021 to 2025. This huge ambition requires a systemic approach. We believe the solution from this Catalyst can provide an overall framework that can effectively govern, plan and execute all energy efficiency commitments and initiatives not just at China Mobile, but other CSPs around the world.”