The majority of the world’s powers all share the same goal:  becoming truly efficient in terms of sustainability, while remaining technologically and economically competitive. The commitment shown by businesses in Spain’s technology sector, for example, must remain focussed so that 5G technology can contribute significantly to achieving this two-headed goal, even before the time frames set out in the current legislation.

This concept was recognised in a report recently published by DigitalES entitled ‘5G, the cornerstone of a sustainable Spain’, which can be interpreted as the conceptual reference framework by which technology companies will be governed in both the short and medium term.

In their report, besides analysing the current situation, the authors present their ‘ten commandments’ of reducing waste and polluting emissions. According to DigitalES director Francisco Javier García Vieira, 5G will bring about that dual revolution in technology and sustainability that Spain needs, “helping us reduce our environmental footprint despite the exponential rise in data traffic and connected devices”.

The commitment of administrations and businesses to 5G

In its final section, the DigitalES report outlines ten commandments to be taken into account for a more “sustainable Spain in the 5G era”, including the following worth noting:

• Share use cases that prove the positive impact in terms of sustainability and combined use of renewable energies with 5G technology – such as those outlined in the report itself.
• Provide institutional support for shutting down old base stations, in order to focus on the parallel implementation of new facilities, which represent 57% of the mobile network’s energy consumption, with special attention focussed on optimising efforts and reducing impacts.
• Give financial consideration to data centres as nodes of electro-intensive activity, so they can massively invest in researching and implementing energy efficiency improvements, given they represent 23% of the mobile network’s energy consumption.
• Specify programmes for promoting ‘green algorithms’ focussed on energy efficiency and sustainability.
• Financially promote the roll out of business and industrial environments where technologies that complement 5G can be implemented, such as the Internet of Things.
• Encourage the implementation of smart cells, the basis for future smart and connected cities.
• Take the potential positive environmental effects of 5G into account in future political and legislative strategies.

The enabling effects of 5G

Looking to 5G technology as an ally in terms of sustainability is a central aspect for DigitalES, according to their report. In fact, they highlight the enabling effect this technology offers to so many sectors.

“The enabling effect of 5G networks arises from changes in processes and behaviours, which are underpinned by the high-capacity, low-latency technology. Together with Edge Computing, Artificial Intelligence and extended reality, 5G can help other productive industries to implement new processes as an integral part of energy efficiency programmes, supporting the most efficient and flexible allocation of resources”.

The data presented in the report can’t be seen as anything but encouraging. By 2030, 5G alone as a technology will have avoided 2.5% of greenhouse gas emissions, leading to 37% savings in the transport sector, 23% in industry and construction, 15% in the building sector, and 14% in the energy industry, for example.