Sustainability in Telecom Services and Technologies
Wednesday 29th March 2023 13:00 – 15:00 (BST) / 14:00 – 16:00 (CEST)
Fibre is probably the most eco-friendly means of enabling telecommunications in terms of the materials used and the manufacturing processes, particularly in comparison to copper. Components such as transceivers are becoming more power-efficient, meaning things like hyperscale data centres require less power. Also, many companies are revamping their production facilities to run on renewable energy in an effort to become a more sustainable industry.
Speakers
- Helen Xenos, Senior Director, Portfolio Marketing, Ciena
- Anders Andrae, Assistant Chief Expert of Environmental Protection Technology, Huawei Technologies
- Klaus Grobe, Senior Director Global Sustainability, Adtran
- Jens Malmodin, Senior Specialist, Ericsson
- Andrew Lord, Senior Manager of Optical Research, BT
Greener Networks Made Possible by Coherent Innovations
Helen Xenos, Senior Director, Portfolio Marketing, Ciena
Abstract: The surging demands of our hyperconnected world means businesses must continue to adapt and take action to transform their networks. Delivering a massive amount of bandwidth in an automated, flexible way – not just through the core of the network or across the ocean, but even closer to the network edge and the end customer – will continue to be a key imperative for network providers. At the same time, consumer demand for more capacity and bandwidth is resulting in greater energy use. Now more than ever, network providers are looking for ways to scale networks while using less equipment, reducing cost, space and energy use. In this webinar, Ciena’s Helen Xenos will explain how greener networks are made possible by continuous innovation in coherent optical technology, which supports exponential capacity increases while keeping power and energy consumption in check.
Biography: Helen Xenos is Senior Director of Portfolio Marketing at Ciena. She is responsible for introducing Ciena’s converged packet optical solutions and technologies to market, including Ciena’s industry leading WaveLogic high-capacity coherent optical solutions. She is a frequent blogger and speaker and enjoys rendering technical speak into the exciting implications it means for network providers. With >20 years in the telecommunications industry, Helen has held a variety of positions that have included product management for the optical and packet optical portfolio, customer program management, systems engineering and manufacturing test engineering. Helen joined Ciena from the Nortel Networks’ Metro Ethernet Networks (MEN) acquisition.
Future trends of Green All Optical Networks in a large context
Download slides: Future trends Green Optical and ICT Andrae 2023
Dr. Anders. S.G. Andrae, Assistant Chief Expert of Environmental Protection Technology, Huawei Technologies
Abstract: The data to be handled in the future will be very large and therefore the networks of the future have to possess certain characteristics. The foreseen trends are shown for key metrics and power saving technologies listed. Macro graphs placing fixed optical network production and use in a larger context are presented. The electricity savings potential under different scenarios are discussed. Policy and technology implications are proposed.
Biography: Dr. Anders S.G. Andrae received the M.Sc. degree in chemical engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, in 1997, and the Ph.D. degree in electronics production (microsystems packaging) from Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden, in 2005. He worked for Ericsson with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) between 1997 and 2001. Between 2006 and 2008 he carried out post–doctoral studies at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Japan. His speciality is the application of sustainability assessment methodologies to ICT solutions from cradle–to–grave. Lately – apart from compliance, LCA and electricity footprints – he has focused mostly on Circular Economy-related topics in European Telecommunications Standards Institute’s (ETSI) e.g. disassembly of server and data storage products, International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T) e.g. Product Circularity Scoring, International Electrical Commission (IEC) e.g. avoided emissions, and academia. Since 2009 Dr. Andrae has been the Rapporteur and Editor of several ETSI and ITU-T Standards and Technical Reports about LCA and Circular Economy.
His current research interest is development and application of LCA to ICT to better understand footprint evolution, trade-offs, supply chains and business models as far as: data management, waste minimization, and green indicators. In ETSI standardization he helps define new LCA methodologies for ICT consumer and network infrastructure goods as well as product information formats. He has previously published three books and 40 peer–reviewed journal papers. Since 2008 Dr. Andrae has been with Huawei Technologies in Sweden now as Assistant Chief Expert of Environmental Protection Technology.
Green ICT – Challenges and Requirements
Klaus Grobe, Senior Director Global Sustainability, ADVA
Abstract: We give an overview on ICT environmental aspects, focusing on (wireline) network equipment. Relevant drivers and challenges related to ICT’s environmental footprint are identified. This includes the question of longevity vs. energy efficiency. This is complemented by a brief overview on legal and other relevant requirements related to (environmental) sustainability in ICT.
Biography: Klaus Grobe, (IEEE M’94-SM’13) received the Dipl.-Ing. and Dr.-Ing. degrees in electrical engineering from Leibniz University, Hannover, Germany, in 1990 and 1998, respectively. Since 2016, he leads the Sustainability Department at ADVA Optical Networking.
Klaus is one of the main authors of Wavelength Division Multiplexing—A Practical Engineering Guide (Hoboken, NJ, Wiley, 2014) and authored and coauthored more than 100 technical publications as well as further book chapters on WDM and PON technologies. He holds 25 patents. Since 2021, he is chairing the Sustainability Working Group of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA). His research interests include WDM energy efficiency and various ICT-related aspects of the circular economy.
The Energy and Carbon Footprint of ICT and Entertainment and Media (E&M)
Jens Malmodin, Senior Specialist, Ericsson
Abstract: The energy and carbon footprint of ICT have been constant since about 2010 while the footprints of E&M have decreased significantly as e.g., paper media has “moved online” and a whole range of consumer electronics have been reduced drastically as their functions are now included in smartphones. TVs have also become more energy efficient even as they have become larger.
Note the constant or decreasing footprints despite mobile subscriptions have increased from about 5 to more than 8 billion, broadband lines have more than doubled to 1.2 billion, Internet users have increased from about 2 to more than 5 billion people, and TV-households have increased 20%. At the same time from around 2010, network data traffic has increased about 20 times!
Aviation has typically been compared to ICT, but the carbon footprint of aviation was about 2 times larger in 2010 and about 3 times larger in 2019 before the pandemic. And then air travel is only used by about 10% of all people on the planet only a few times per year, while ICT is used by most people every day for hours.
How is this possible you may ask. Continuous improvements and miniaturization year by year, and sometimes larger steps due to brand new technologies, has not only led to lower energy consumption, but also less overall use of materials.
Biography: Jens Malmodin has 25 years of experience of energy efficient design, LCA, environmental assessments and environmental data reporting at Ericsson. He has published many papers and articles about LCA of ICT products, systems and services, including studies on the ICT sector level and how ICT can help society reduce its impact on the environment. Jens holds an MSc in material engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden.
Andrew Lord, BT
An exclusive overview of the ECOC Conference 2023 from Andrew Lord of BT, with details of how you can get involved with the event this year.