Eco Factor: Solar energy to power cellphone towers could reduce emissions by 5 million tons.
The ministry of New and Renewable Energy of the Indian government is expected to come up with a proposal that would require the telecom operators to convert their diesel-powered cellphone towers to renewable solar energy. The plan is expected to be a part of India’s National Solar Mission, which aims to generate up to 20GW of solar power by 2022.
India has more than 500 million mobile subscribers and is still one of the two fastest growing telecom markets. Presently there are about 250,000 cellphones towers in the country, a number that is expected to rise substantially in the coming years. CleanTechnica estimates that converting these towers to run on solar energy will save up to 5 million tons of emissions and $1.4 billion in energy costs each year.
Via: CleanTechnica/The Hindu
