news details |
|
|
| Mobile towers big environmental hazard; A concern | | | Dr.Manzoor Ahmad Yetoo | 2/24/2015 11:16:09 PM |
| Mobile phone boom is taking a heavy toll on
the world environment. As much as 200 crore
litres of diesel are burnt and thousands of tonnes of carbon emitted every year to power mobile telephony towers spread all over the India to keep us connected.Not only this there are radiation hazards also linked with it.Waking up to this environmentally unfriendly side of the phone industry, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has initiated a consultation process to help the sector go green. Telecom towers and base stations form the backbone of any network.
India has around 3.1 lakh towers, of which 70 percent are located in rural areas where gridconnected electricity is not available. As a result, 60 percent of the towers are powered by diesel generators which produce a total of 5.3 million litres of carbon dioxide every year. The total carbon emission is estimated to be around 5 million tonnes due to diesel consumption and 8 million tonnes due to power grid connected towers.
Telecom companies in India spend about ` 300 crore every month on diesel. Towers and related equipment such as base stations and backhaul equipment account for the bulk of the power consumption for any telecom operator.The tower sites consume 65 percent energy, while the core network accounts for 21 percent. The use of renewable sources of energy such as solar and biomass, better network planning and sharing of infrastructure by different operators could substantially reduce the carbon footprint of the industry.The move from diesel to solar and other alternate sources of energy will result in a reduction of 5 million tonnes of carbon emission as well as a savings of $ 1.4 billion ( ` 6,350 crore) in operating expenses for telecom tower companies, the paper says. It can be suggested a system of carbon credits for the telecom sector.
Moving to renewable energy sources could generate millions of carbon credits that could offset operational costs on the towers. How ever there is need for continuous assessment of carbon credits and strict regulations around the globe to curb this growing problem as population is growing with tremendous pace so is the demand of telecom sector.
(The author is an expert in environment ,project & waste Management, occupational safety& health & pollution control and empanelled expert for Indo European chamber of commerce and industry).
(You may reach him at [email protected]) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
