02/12/2019

The Climate Summit, an annual conference attended by 200 countries to combat climate change, kicks off today in Madrid.

The event will take place from December 2 to 13 and will occupy up to 7 IFEMA pavilions. More than 113,000 square meters divided into a Blue Zone, more institutional and administered by the United Nations, and a Green Zone, for the participation of civil society. More than 25,000 people will participate.

During the summit, which will be attended by heads of government, ministers, NGOs, scientists, entrepreneurs and activist Greta Thunberg, all alternatives to limit global warming will be discussed. Hundreds of proposals will be on the table to address an issue that concerns the entire planet, but what are technology companies already doing about it?

Climate change

One very important fact: the transition from 4G to 5G will reduce energy consumption per bit by 60%, which is a major breakthrough in terms of energy savings. But what else are technology companies doing to protect the environment? Here are some of the most interesting cases.

1. The City Council of Gandía (Valencia) has developed a project to become the first European city to manage its water supply over the Internet.

Thanks to NB-IoT technology, which allows meters to be connected in areas without coverage, the city will become a smart city capable of monitoring, controlling and managing water consumption through the network. This will allow the municipality to be more competitive, as well as more ethical, sustainable and efficient in the management of resources such as water.

Ultimately, this system reduces the volume of water consumed and allows for lower energy consumption, priorities included in points 6, 7 and 11 of the SDGs.

2. Thanks to the the ReefShark chipset, a processor that combines its adaptability to 5G standards, can be reduce base station power consumption by up to 64%. This technology developed by Nokia has also developed a liquid cooling system that can reduce a base station’s CO2 emissions by up to 80%.

In addition, the Finnish company points out the benefits derived from digitalization. Incorporating sensors into crops will enable farmers to improve soil quality, which will increase crop yields and reduce waste. And fleets of 5G-connected drones with computer vision technology will be able to monitor environmental conditions in the oceans, identifying pollution and plastic debris or locating oil leaks.

According to their calculations, information and communication technologies (ICT), including connectivity, could enable a 20% reduction in global CO2 emissions by 2030.

DigitalES climate summit

3. In reality, technology offers many ways to reduce energy consumption. One of them is through the use of data centers. Data centers are beginning to employ artificial intelligence to identify new energy efficiencies. IBX SmartView data center infrastructure monitoring (DCIM) software enables customers to monitor energy, mechanical and environmental conditions that can help them make better decis