More data, more connected objects, faster, everywhere… For some defenders of the environment, 5G is fundamentally opposed to the “digital sobriety” which is required to curb the explosion in the consumption of computer equipment and online services. Industrialists, on the contrary, defend a “green” technology which, according to them, could support the environmental transition. Who to believe?
There are several points of consensus in this debate. First, a 5G antenna consumes around ten times less energy to carry the same volume of data as a 4G model. The new network has, moreover, been designed to facilitate certain energy savings, for example by putting the antennas in standby state when not in use.
“Real earnings”
Except that the use of data should also increase with the generalization of 5G and the new uses that it entails. So much so that the future network is likely, ultimately, to consume more electricity than the old one, according to a report from the High Climate Council published in December 2020. This is called the rebound effect. The change of network also involves renewing smartphones to switch to compatible models, and deploying antennas adapted to the new frequencies, which will increase the carbon footprint of digital technology in France and elsewhere.
But a third dimension is added to this debate: future industrial uses of 5G could also make it possible to optimize entire sections of the economy, with positive consequences for the environment. “There will be gains, admittedly difficult to predict, but real”, estimates Professor David Gesbert, from the Eurecom digital sciences research center, in Sophia Antipolis (Alpes-Maritimes).
“The environment is one of the subjects on which 5G has the most potential”, adds Cédric O, Secretary of State in charge of digital. “Today, the overall functioning of our economy is largely inefficient: we waste gasoline, electricity, agricultural inputs… To succeed in the ecological transition, we will need technical innovation to drastically optimize our use. Resource. “
The new mobile network could, he said, play a leading role in this process. “5G is more connections. More connections means more information exchanged. And more information exchanged means more efficiency, and therefore less waste. It is an immutable law of technology. The connection makes it possible to reduce waste in transport or industry by around 20% to 30%. This is infinitely greater than the increase in the marginal consumption of antennas. “
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