As per the report, diesel use is not feasible, both environmentally and economically. The telecom sector in India emitted over 5.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2008 as a result of diesel.
At a time when the central government is on a spree of hiking petrol and diesel prices, is the telecom sector in the country consuming too much diesel to run its mobile towers? Figures from the recently published report ‘Dirty Talking’, prepared by Greenpeace, revealed the facts and stressed on the need to shift from fossil fuel to renewable energy.
“There are around 4 lakh mobile towers in India, a majority of them in rural and semi-urban areas where either grid electricity is not available or electric supply is irregular. Given the power deficit, almost 60% of the power requirement of telecom towers is met by diesel-generated electricity,” said Abhishek Pratap, climate and energy campaigner, Greenpeace. “Each tower, currently, consumes an average of 4,000 litres of diesel every year, implying an annual consumption of about 1.8 billion litres.”
As per the report, diesel use is not feasible, both environmentally and economically. “The telecom sector in India emitted over 5.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2008 as a result of diesel. Emissions have risen since then as the sector is also rising almost exponentially. Even on the economic part, the government subsidy on diesel has been aggressively exploited by the telecom sector, given the absence of dual or differential pricing of the fuel,” said Pratap.
The electricity requirement for telecom companies is projected to grow around 26 billion units by 2012, compared to 14 billion units required annually today to provide uninterrupted service to consumers. The Information and Communication
Technology-based solutions can contribute towards the reduction of global GHG emissions by 15% by 2020 and in the process also deliver energy savings to the tune of over €600 billion to global business.
The report estimates that a shift in power sourcing to renewable technologies, such as solar photovoltaic, will result in 300% reduction in total costs for telecom operators, in comparison to a diesel generator tower over 10 years.
Citing the disadvantages from the use of diesel in mobile towers, the NGO has undertaken a campaign in four major cities — Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore — asking consumers to sign a petition, which will urge the mobile company to switch from diesel to a renewable energy source.
“We are asking Airtel first, to switch to a renewable source of energy to provide electricity to the towers, because it holds the largest market share. This is also because we felt that Airtel is the trend setter in the country’s telecom sector. If they listen to our plea, then there is a chance that other companies will also follow the example,” said Pratap.
Airtel refused to comment on the issue.
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