Extract energy from unexpected places
The mobile industry can boast of sustainability without sinning greenwashing: Operators’ networks now transport 10 times more data volume than in 2017, but their total electricity consumption has not grown, so that each gigabyte that circulates is 90% more efficient than five years ago. In addition, almost 25% of the electricity purchased by the world’s telcos is already of renewable origin, seven points more than in 2021 and 11 more than in 2020. The big equipment suppliers are also starting to apply the intel· artificial intelligence to optimize the operation of the networks, turning off the antennas while no object or person is connected. In this line of squeezing down to the last milliwatt, Ericsson has exhibited at MWC a system to harvest energy from the radio waves around us, and Nokia a set for mobile sites cooled with water that is recirculated into the urban circuits of heating However, I found the InduEye Vibro from the Terrasse-based company AEINnova even brighter: a vibration sensor for industrial machinery that does not need to be plugged in or the battery changed because it gets the energy it needs from heat from the same machine that you have to monitor.