Evaluating the Energy Consumption of Mobile Data Transfer—From Technology Development to Consumer Behaviour and Life Cycle Thinking

Pihkola, Hanna; Hongisto, Mikko; Apilo, Olli; Lasanen, Mika

doi:10.3390/su10072494

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Evaluating the Energy Consumption of Mobile Data Transfer—From Technology Development to Consumer Behaviour and Life Cycle Thinking

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VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., P.O. Box 1000, FI-02044 Espoo, Finland

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Sustainability 2018, 10(7), 2494; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10072494

Received: 31 May 2018 / Revised: 11 July 2018 / Accepted: 11 July 2018 / Published: 17 July 2018

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) for Sustainability)

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Abstract

Mobile data consumption in Finland is among the highest in the world. The increase in mobile data usage has been rapid and continual future growth is foreseen. Simultaneously, consumer behaviour is changing. While new end-user devices are more and more energy-efficient and energy consumption per transferred gigabyte has significantly decreased, people spend more time and consume more data via their mobile devices than ever before. Does the increased usage outweigh the energy savings that have been achieved? What options are available for tackling increasing energy demand? And should consumers have a role to play in this discussion? This paper examines the current and future trends that results from the energy consumption of mobile data transfer and mobile networks in Finland. The findings presented in this paper are based on a top-down energy intensity estimate and publicly available data, which was employed to construct an illustrative trend (kWh/gigabyte) for the energy consumption of transmitted mobile data for the years 2010–2017. In addition, energy consumption related to mobile data transfer is discussed from a life cycle perspective, considering both direct and indirect energy use. Finally, the challenges in conducting such assessments are examined. View Full-Text

Keywords: energy consumption; mobile access networks; consumer behaviour; life cycle thinking

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MDPI and ACS Style

Pihkola, H.; Hongisto, M.; Apilo, O.; Lasanen, M. Evaluating the Energy Consumption of Mobile Data Transfer—From Technology Development to Consumer Behaviour and Life Cycle Thinking. Sustainability 2018, 10, 2494. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10072494

AMA Style

Pihkola H, Hongisto M, Apilo O, Lasanen M. Evaluating the Energy Consumption of Mobile Data Transfer—From Technology Development to Consumer Behaviour and Life Cycle Thinking. Sustainability. 2018; 10(7):2494. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10072494

Chicago/Turabian Style

Pihkola, Hanna, Mikko Hongisto, Olli Apilo, and Mika Lasanen. 2018. "Evaluating the Energy Consumption of Mobile Data Transfer—From Technology Development to Consumer Behaviour and Life Cycle Thinking" Sustainability 10, no. 7: 2494. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10072494

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Evaluating the Energy Consumption of Mobile Data Transfer—From Technology Development to Consumer Behaviour and Life Cycle Thinking

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