Low-Carbon Sustainable Development of 5G Base Stations in China
Figure 8.6 depicts the distribution of 5G base stations in China, which shows that the construction of 5G base stations from 2020 to 2021 was mainly concentrated in coastal cities.
China plans to construct over 4.5 million 5G base stations in 2025 while introducing additional policy and financial incentives to support industries expected to shape the next decade, the country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) announced during its annual work conference.
Previous research has estimated that a single 5G base station will produce approximately 30.2 ~ 33.5 tCO 2 eq throughout its life cycle (Ding et al., 2022; Guo et al., 2022a). Consequently, the carbon emissions from 5G base stations in China in 2021 amounted to approximately 49.2 MtCO 2 eq.
5G base stations are categorized into micro base stations, macro base stations, and indoor sub-systems based on their transmit power and coverage. As 5G operates at a higher frequency than 4G, its coverage capability is lower and the signal penetration is poor, causing significant signal attenuation.
In terms of energy consumption, 5G base stations require continuous operation and stability, which leads to significant electricity consumption (Guo et al., 2022a). This power is mainly supplied by transmission equipment and auxiliary equipment, such as transformers, UPS power supplies, and cooling equipment.
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