Low-carbon upgrading to China''s communications base
On the one hand, China has built the world''s largest number of communication base stations due to its large population and the huge communication demand for areas such as auto
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 CO 2 eq.
Based on the actual number of base stations in each province of China in 2021, 13 we calculated the national electricity consumption of communication base stations (methodology detailed in Note S4), which amounted to 83,525.81 GWh (95% confidence interval [CI]: 81,212.38–85,825.86 GWh) for the year (Figures 2 A and 2C).
These outcomes demonstrate that upgrading to low-carbon base stations not only ensures economic feasibility but also delivers significant environmental and public health benefits, reinforcing the strategic value of decarbonizing China's communication infrastructure.
Previous research has estimated that a single 5G base station will produce approximately 30.2 ~ 33.5 tCO 2 eq throughout its life cycle (Ding et al., 2022; Guo et al., 2022a). Consequently, the carbon emissions from 5G base stations in China in 2021 amounted to approximately 49.2 MtCO 2 eq.
On the one hand, China has built the world''s largest number of communication base stations due to its large population and the huge communication demand for areas such as auto
5G development in China 5G network build-out in China The world''s largest 5G SA network has been built Total number of 5G base stations in China (ten thousand) 2023 337.7 2022
Breakdown of newly constructed 5G base stations in China 2019-2025, by type Number of newly build macro and micro base stations in China from 2019 to 2021 with an estimate until 2025
Download Citation | On Sep 1, 2025, Yanjia Wang and others published Low-carbon upgrading to China''s communications base stations for economic profits and additional environmental and public
The concern over the potential health impacts of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) has been a sensitive topic for many communities. Initially, when communication base stations were first being
Within the next decade, the 5G-related industries in China have projected that the number of 5G base stations across the country would reach approximately 5–6 million, 1–1.2 times
Goncalves et al. (2020) explored carbon neutrality evaluation of 5G base stations from the perspective of network structure and carbon sequestration. Despite the growing attention on
As China rapidly expands its digital infrastructure, the energy consumed by communication base stations has grown dramatically. Traditionally powered by coal-dominated grid
China Mobile added 467,000 5G base stations while achieving a 2% reduction in overall base station energy consumption in 2024.
China aims to build over 4.5 million 5G base stations next year and give more policy as well as financial support to foster industries that can define the next decade, the country''s top
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