AT&T says that it will lead its business customers to cut 1 billion metric tons (1 gigaton) of green gas emissions by 2035.
A gigaton of green of greenhouse gases (GHG) represents 15% of those generated in the United States and 3% of global transmissions as of last year. The carrier initially will partner with Microsoft, Equinix, Duke Energy, The Texas A&M University System’s RELLIS Campus, The University of Missouri, SunPower, Badger Meter, IndustLabs, Traxen, BSR, RMI, Third Derivative and the Carbon Trust on the project.
AT&T efforts will include enabling “broadband-enabled climate solutions at global scale” and using broadband to help customers adopt smart IoT (Internet of Things) solutions for commercial and manufacturing facilities and to support AI management and monitoring solutions for transportation and energy.
AT&T also will work to reduce its own emissions.
“Ubiquitous connectivity — nationwide broadband, which includes 5G access, for businesses everywhere — has the power to help scale technologies, dramatically accelerating business efforts to reach their climate goals,” AT&T Chief Sustainability Officer Charlene Lake said in a press release about AT&T emissions reduction plans. “As AT&T advocates for universal broadband, we see an opportunity to support even more businesses in the transition to a net-zero economy through our global reach, advanced network capabilities and collaborations with industry and NGO partners.”
Energy concerns have long been on the agenda of the telecommunications industry for financial as well as environmental reasons. For instance, the pay TV operators’ efforts to reduce energy consumption of their set-top boxes go back for several years.
Another example is Wyoming Hyperscale White Box, a sustainable data center provider that will launch its first site early next year in Aspen, WY. The company plans to use closed loop external cooling and bio-based dielectric fluid heat removal to increase cooling efficiency by 95%. When combined with its proprietary technology, Wyoming Hyperscale says that it can operate without fans or refrigerants and consume no water.
Last month, Lumen Technologies said Wyoming Hyperscale will use its adaptive networking and security products in the first site.
