Carbon emissions and mitigation potentials of 5G base station in China

Abstract

The emergence of fifth-generation (5G) telecommunication would change modern lives, however, 5G network requires a large number of base stations, which may lead to greater carbon emissions. Since 2020, over 700,000 5G base stations are in operation in China. This study aims to understand the carbon emissions of 5G network by using LCA method to divide the boundary of a single 5G base station and discusses the carbon emission of 5G base station from the perspective of the whole life cycle. Also, we considered China's 5G base station as an example to calculate carbon emission at a national scale. The results indicated that the carbon emissions of one micro/macro base station were 6.2 ± 0.4 and 30.2 ± 1.5 tons, respectively, subject to one-year operation time. At national level, the total carbon emissions were 17±5 million metric tons (Mt) in 2020, and may increase to 145±7 Mt by 2030. However, a significant reduction of ca. 42.8% can be achieved by optimizing the power structure and base station layout strategy and reducing equipment power consumption. Overall, this study provides a clear approach to assess the environmental impact of the 5G base station and will promote the green development of mobile communication facilities.