Innovation at Work - Episode 1_2010- Green Touch

Transcript edition 01/2010 – Green Touch
Hugh SCHOFIELD (voice over)
Our planet needs protection. If we are to continue spreading the benefits of prosperity and economic growth then it has to be hand in hand with a radical redesign of the way we create and consume energy. It’s the challenge and the inspiration for our times.

Hugh SCHOFIELD
Hello and welcome to Innovation at Work. In this edition, we are looking at how the world of telecommunications is responding to the urgency of preserving our natural environment.

Telecoms may be responsible for only 2 per cent of global carbon emissions – far less than other big industries – but 2 per cent of a vast number is still a very large number indeed. And it’s going to get bigger as more and more people connect.

Hugh SCHOFIELD
Much good work is already being done to cut power consumption with alternative energy, smart
metering and so on. But given the projected increase of telecoms traffic in the years ahead – is
that going to be enough?

Hugh SCHOFIELD
Gee Rittenhouse, you are Head of Research at Bell Labs. What are your predictions of the carbon
footprint of the telecoms industry if things remain pretty much as they are now?

Gee RITTENHOUSE
Head of Research, Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs
Given the current traffic projections, we expect the carbon footprint of the network to grow
substantially over the next ten years. Of course there is a lot of work going in Bell Labs and
throughout the industry to reduce this carbon footprint. But if we applied all the technologies
that we know today, at best the carbon footprint will remain flat – the same amount of energy
dissipated ten years from now as we have today.

Hugh SCHOFIELD
So what you are saying is that if we are going to have a serious go at reducing the carbon
footprint, something far more radical is going to be required?

Gee RITTENHOUSE
Yes, in fact to address exactly that point, a handful of scientists got together in the summer of
2009 and constructed a mathematical model of the network - including wireless and optics and
access and all of these parameters – and then calculated what the minimum amount of energy
required for the network is.

Hugh SCHOFIELD
And what is that figure? What is the minimum required?

Gee RITTENHOUSE
The minimum required is a factor of 1,000 reduction.

Hugh SCHOFIELD
Hang on, so you are saying that if this model was applied, the amount of energy emitted by the
telecoms industry will be a thousandth of what it is today?

Gee RITTENHOUSE
We know it’s possible, but it requires a very different way of thinking about the network. It’s
not using today’s network and extending it down – it’s building it from this fundamental model
up. But we know it’s possible.

Hugh SCHOFIELD
So that’s the target: designing a network that eats up just 0.1 per cent of the energy currently
required. Clearly it’s an immense task – too much for a single company, a single laboratory – this
is something in which the whole of the telecoms industry has to be involved.

That’s why Alcatel-Lucent and Bell Labs have now created something unique: Green Touch. It’s
a consortium of telecoms operators, manufacturers, universities and non-profit organisations
with a mission to conceive and demonstrate the effectiveness of this revolutionary low-energy
network – all within the next five years.

Ben VERWAAYEN
CEO, Alcatel-Lucent
This is an innovation not just for the communications industry – this is an innovation that can be
used far beyond.

Rod TUCKER
University of Melbourne
The factor of a thousand is not totally out of the question – it’s something that could possibly be
achieved, it’s a realistic number. And it’s the sort of number we are going to need in the future
when the Internet grows to a very large capacity – we will need that sort of improvement to
make sure that the energy consumption is kept under control.

Johan De Boeck
IMEC
I am scientist enough to see the challenge. So I think if we can really see the aim of the
thousand and we can see the magic behind the number, we have something to work towards.
And having a roadmap is something, which has always been very driving, very challenging for a
scientist. So tell them there is something they cannot do and they will go moving…

Muriel MEDARD
MIT
There is a huge opportunity for us in order to make a real difference in the way that networks
are developed so that they are sustainable, not just that we are connecting people but that we
are connecting people in a sustainable way.


Roger NOBLE
Freescale Semiconductor
In the order to create real change, real improvement to the energy consumption in
telecommunications networks, it requires a holistic approach – we need to be looking at all
elements in the value chain, all partners so the manufacturers and the operators, as well as the
semiconductor vendors. And it’s that dimension of the Green Touch initiative, which is so
exciting to us.

Jeong KIM
President, Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs
If we sit down and think about it – the content of what we are trying to say should sink in. Once
it sinks in, you realize: “Oh my God”, there is a great opportunity for all of us in our industry to
make innovations, to make our life so much better.

Hugh SCHOFIELD (voice over)
Cutting the carbon footprint a thousand times – what an extraordinary vision. And could this be
an inspiration? Could other industries follow the telecoms lead?

Hugh SCHOFIELD
Well, we’ve been joined now by Claude Fussler. Now, Claude you are an expert on the
environment and on innovation and you advise the United Nations and various big companies.
What would you say will be the effects, first of all, on the telecoms industry itself if this sea
change in efficiency goes through?

Claude FUSSLER
Director, U.N. Programme “Caring for Climate”
By making this tremendous jump, you know a factor of thousand; it will actually be able to grow
while decreasing its energy impact. And the main exciting thing is that it will be able to provide
now products and devices beyond the digital divide because a lot of poor kids in the world,
nurses, hospitals, cities cannot afford digital technology because of its energy load: it needs
wires, it needs generation capacity. With a thousand-factor change you can run with devices on
small solar cells, on little batteries, and you can give access to education, to health to those
people. And that’s very exciting.

Hugh SCHOFIELD
And more globally, Claude, what will be the repercussions for the economy as a whole if this
commitment by the ICT sector to cut energy consumption a thousand fold is achieved?

Claude FUSSLER
Well I think it’s an example. What I think is that a lot of CEO’s from other sectors, from the car
sector of from the utility sectors, should scratch their heads and say: “Why can’t we be as
forward-looking as the ICT sector?” Second, because of the factor thousand, you will find
smarter appliances, smarter traffic systems, smarter cars, smarter everything that will continue
to decrease our energy load. So this is very promising if everybody starts to play in this game.

Hugh SCHOFIELD
Designing the network of the future, a network that consumes less, costs less, a network above
all with minimal impact on our precious natural environment. It’s a dream, but a necessary
dream. With the right mix of hope, inspiration and innovation, it can become real