Original report: 5G carbon emissions will increase by three times in 2035, and the transition to 100% renewable energy needs to be accelerated

Produced | Sohu Think Tank

Edit | Liu Shijiao

On May 28, the Metrology and Testing Center of the Fifth Electronics Research Institute of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (Guangzhou Saibao Metrology and Testing Center) released “The Road to Decarbonization of China’s Digital Infrastructure: Data Center and 5G Carbon Reduction Potential and Challenges (2020-2035) )” report (referred to as the “Report”), which predicts the energy consumption and carbon emission trends of China’s data centers and 5G and other digital infrastructures.

The “Report” states that After China fully achieves its carbon peak in 2030, the carbon emissions of digital infrastructure will continue to grow, and it has become a new growth point in energy consumption and carbon emissions. It is necessary to accelerate the transition to 100% renewable energy and achieve carbon neutrality as soon as possible.

“Report” predicts, By 2035, the total power consumption of China’s data centers and 5G will be about 2.5-3 times that of 2020 , Will reach 6,951-7,82 billion kilowatt-hours, accounting for 5-7% of China’s total electricity consumption.

Simultaneously, In 2035, the total carbon emissions of China’s data centers and 5G will reach 230-310 million tons, accounting for 2-4% of China’s carbon emissions, which is equivalent to the current carbon dioxide emissions of the two Beijing cities. Among them, the carbon emissions of data centers will increase by 103% compared with 2020, and the carbon emissions of 5G will increase by 321%.

In contrast, key emission industries such as steel, building materials, and non-ferrous metals are expected to take the lead in achieving peak carbon emissions and begin to decline after 2025, and the “lock-in effect” of carbon emissions from digital infrastructure will enable China to achieve carbon peaks and further carbon neutrality. Important challenge.

The “Report” recommends, Accelerating the transition to 100% renewable energy can fundamentally help the digital infrastructure industry to reduce carbon emissions, and is the industry’s priority path towards carbon neutrality. Among them, data centers and 5G can apply renewable energy through investment in the construction of distributed and centralized renewable energy projects, market-based procurement of renewable energy, and subscription of green power certificates, while exploring the application scenarios of combining energy storage and renewable energy. .

To this end, the “Report” puts forward the following recommendations to relevant companies: First, set a goal to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2030, and further propose a full range (scope 1, 2, 3) carbon neutral goal by 2030; The second is to expand the scale of corporate renewable energy procurement and actively communicate with key stakeholders to facilitate further breakthroughs in the market-based renewable energy procurement mechanism; the third is to further improve energy information disclosure, disclosing information on greenhouse gas emissions and energy use.