8. Low-Carbon Sustainable Development of 5G Base Stations in China

With the construction of new infrastructure is on the rise in many countries, the impact of the 5G developments on circular economy in the era of COVID-19 cannot be overlooked. However, the high energy consumption and rapid construction speed of new infrastructure have led to increased concern about the carbon emissions generated during the operation process. As 5G serves as the foundation for the construction of new infrastructure, China, as the world leader in 5G base station construction, has already built over 1.4 million 5G base stations in 2021 alone. In the same year, 5G base stations in China produced approximately 49.2 million tons of CO₂eq. In order to increase the contribution of the communication industry to mitigate the global greenhouse effect, future efforts must focus on reducing the carbon emissions associated with 5G base station construction from four key perspectives: network architecture, network deployment, resource scheduling, and link-level technology. In this way, the 5G network can achieve sustainable development.