A new GreenPeace study has targeted India’s diesel-addicted telecom industry, estimating that it contributes around 2% of India’s green house gas emissions.
The telecom towers and networks consume around 2 billion litres of diesel a year, release 5,600,000,000 kg of Carbon Dioxide or equivalent heat-trapping gas per year.
“We expect the ICT sector to play a critical role in accelerating a shift to a low-carbon economy through the development of solutions and driving their operations with large-scale use of clean renewable energy, avoiding high carbon lock-ins.” said Greenpeace Campaigner Abhishek Pratap.
The study is likely to further add to pressure to implement the green norms recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India or TRAI. The Authority had, last week, issued a wide range of recommendations to the government to bring down the carbon emissions of telecom operators in the country.
According to it, service providers must declare their carbon footprint every six months, and a cap must be placed on power consumption of mobile towers.
TRAI also recommended a progressive target of reducing the emissions of the telecom industry by 8% by 2012-2013, 12% by 2014-2015, and 25% by 2018-2019.
“Consumers certainly would like to know that when they use mobiles or change their Facebook status, they are not contributing to toxic coal ash, global warming or future Fukishima’s,” Pratap added.