Energy efficiency in communications

The telecommunications and information community today is facing daunting challenges but also embracing great opportunities. The unprecedented expansion of wireline and wireless networks has resulted in a tremendous increase in energy consumption and left a significant environmental footprint. Recently, it has been reported that energy costs can account for as much as half of a mobile service provider¿s annual operating expenses. If the aggregate energy consumption of networking devices were to follow the growth trajectories of Internet traffic (i.e., about 50 percent per year), the environmental and financial consequences would be dire. Thus, making information and communications technology (ICT) equipment and applications energy-efficient could not only have a tangible positive impact on the environment, but also help telecommunications operators attain long-term profitability. Moreover, energy-efficient communications can help the world reduce its dependence on fossil fuel, enable demand response and distributed energy resources, and ultimately achieve sustainable prosperity. Accordingly, a myriad of communications and information technologies have already been exploited by the global smart grid initiatives to empower the conventional power grid to support two-way energy and information flow.