5G-enabled solutions to play a key role in decarbonising US economy – study

5G-enabled technologies will enable the US to achieve 20% of its greenhouse gas emissions reductions by 2025, according to a new study conducted by Accenture.

The study, 5G Connectivity: A Key Enabling Technology to Meet America’s Climate Change Goals, states that 5G-enabled solutions will help avoid the emissions of up to 330.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2025.

This is the equivalent of removing 26% of all the passenger vehicles (72 million vehicles) from the road in the US for a year.

Within the buildings and energy sector, 5G use cases can optimise real-time energy management and enable an increasing amount of green energy to be integrated, states the study.

Technologies including remote operations, building energy management systems, commercial HVAC controls, smart meters and smart grids, and renewable microgrids could abate up to 67.9 MMtCO2e of carbon by 2025, the equivalent to removing greenhouse gas emissions from electricity consumed by 12 million homes in a year.

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Within the manufacturing industry, 5G use cases including inventory management, real-time asset monitoring, predictive maintenance, process augmentation, and travel avoidance could abate up to 67.4 MMtCO2e of carbon, the equivalent of removing emissions from 17 coal-fired power plants in a year, according to the study.

Within the transportation and cities management sector, could result in 86.5 MMtCO2e of carbon abatement in the US, the equivalent to the carbon sequestered by 106 million acres of US forests in a year.

Meredith Attwell Baker, CTIA President and CEO said: “This study confirms that US 5G wireless networks will be instrumental in tackling the pressing challenge of climate change.

“America’s wireless industry is building a world-leading 5G platform that will spur the investment and innovation necessary to meet our country’s climate objectives. US 5G networks already cover 305 million people, we’re building out 5G faster than we built out 4G, and every day, the wireless industry is working to make these networks go faster and farther.”

Peters Suh, Accenture’s North America Communications and Media industry lead, added: “This study shows 5G networks can bring material reductions in our country’s carbon footprint. The crucial piece will be how industries leverage cloud-first 5G networks to bring greater innovation into key operational processes. With appropriate education and ecosystem changes, organisations can reap the climate benefits of 5G across their cloud continuum, which includes everything from the public cloud to the edge.”

The study identified 31 5G use cases that can be applied as a climate change mitigation mechanism across the US.

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