Another Report Confirms that 5G Deployment Will Significantly Increase Energy Use

New Report: 5G is Not-So-Green and Could Increase Energy Use – University of Sussex Business School Report

University of Sussex Business School Report on 5G Energy Use Finds 5G Could CounterAct Energy Saving Potential

“This report confirms what we have been saying for years,” stated Theodora Scarato Executive Director of Environmental Heath Trust. “The demand for technology is outstripping the increase in efficiency. The energy consumption from the proliferation of these new networks will rise sharply due to the ever increasing energy demands at every stage of the lifecycle of 5G equipment, from device manufacture to data centers to data transmissions, and networks.”

Excerpted from University of Sussex article by Neil Vowles

A review by the University of Sussex Business School finds that the notion that 5G is green technology is not currently backed up by a strong, publicly available, fully transparent evidence base. The researchers did a literature review to examine whole network level assessments of the operational energy use implications of 5G, the embodied energy use associated with 5G, and indirect energy use effects associated with 5G-driven changes in user behaviour and patterns of consumption and production in other sectors of the economy.

Academics from the Sussex Energy Group warn that the widespread adoption of unlimited data subscriptions for 5G users and the facilitation of advanced and data-intensive mobile services such as VR and more sophisticated mobile gaming could “encourage energy-intensive user practices, contribute to ever-growing levels of data traffic, and counteract the energy-saving potential of 5G efficiency improvements.”