in 2021 in British Scientific a study published in the journal Nature found that none of the 1992-2020 the Olympic Games held during the period were not sustainable enough. In 2016 alone The Rio de Janeiro Olympics consumed nearly 30,000 gigawatt hours of energy and generated 3.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, which makes it safe to assume that even the smallest actions at an event of this magnitude can have a significant result.
“While 5G stations in Paris were at full capacity during the Olympics to ensure that no sports fan was left without a connection, their impact on the environment is surprisingly low. According to the calculations of the operator of the Olympic Games, the share of pollution created by the equipment it uses in the total 2024 the “cauldron” of emissions of the Olympics does not even make up 1 percent. This demonstrates how advanced and efficient 5G technology is. And these are not only distant foreign examples – we can see the possibilities of 5G during recent events in Lithuania,” says Ramūnas Mikalauskas, head of the Telia radio network.
A complete package of measures to reduce emissions
As reported on the Business Insider portal, a significant boost to the ecology of the Paris Olympic Games is given by the fact that the organizers decided to use as many temporary structures as possible for the competition, and to rent furniture and other necessary equipment. Therefore, instead of the grandiose constructions typical of the cities hosting the world sports festival, the French capital had to build just one non-dismantling object. A very similar strategy was followed when planning the communication infrastructure.
“Obviously, once the Olympics are over and millions of fans leave the city, such a large number of base stations will no longer be needed. Therefore, Orange, which provides communication for the Olympic Games, chose to rent a quarter of the 5G network equipment, and to reuse the additional infrastructure purchased for the Games. The operator paid the most attention to this, because according to their own research, the biggest pollution is produced in the production and installation of the equipment required for 5G, and not in the production of the electricity required for its operation”, reveals R. Mikalauskas.
The specialist notes that the use of 5G for mass events provides great flexibility, because after they are over, the equipment can be relatively easily dismantled, transported and installed in other places. This allows for efficient use of available resources while reducing the amount of electronic waste.
More speed, less electricity
The environmental friendliness of 5G is primarily manifested in the fact that, in order to offer fifth-generation communication, operators must upgrade their network with the latest or at least more modern equipment than before. More advanced communication technology allows more smaller transmitters to fit into one antenna, increasing its operational efficiency and reducing energy consumption required for equipment cooling.
In addition, modern base stations carry out resource planning and transmission power configuration in real time, and the signal emitted by the antennas is very precisely directed in the required direction, avoiding interference and optimizing the consumption of the necessary electrical resources.
“The advantage of 5G is well illustrated by the Song Festival event that took place in Kalnai Park this summer. In order to provide tens of thousands of participants with a high-quality connection, we were able to install the 5G base station directly on a street light pole. It didn’t need diesel generators or a very powerful electrical input, and users could enjoy mobile Internet speeds reaching several hundred megabits per second (Mb/s), R. Mikalauskas reveals.
2024-08-13 15:29:37