Content for  TR 22.882  Word version:  19.3.0

Global warming caused by excessive emissions of GHG (Green House Gas, e.g., carbon dioxide) due to human activity (e.g., burning fossil fuels for electricity generation) is the main driver to climate change, which poses a significant threat to society and the environment. To achieve carbon neutrality, it is important to reduce the GHG incl. carbon emissions in the first place rather than offset them later. Recent advancements in communication capabilities of networks (e.g., 5GS) enables a wide range of services (e.g., AR/XR). However, the rising demand for communication services in turn triggers a rising demand for energy and a greater risk of an even higher resulting GHG footprint. 3GPP plays a crucial role in the ICT sector to enable the deployment of these technologies on a global scale and therefore must also play a central role in enabling a sustainable future. The adoption of alternative sustainable sources of energy incl. renewable energy (e.g., solar, wind, hydropower, geothermy) and nuclear power could help offset the GHG footprint of energy generation based on fossil fuels, even though their corresponding environmental impact also need to be considered. From an ICT standpoint and, 3GPP system in particular, the energy used by network nodes can be from varied energy with different related levels of environmental impact incl. GHG emissions. Due to the highly variable and unpredictable nature of renewable energy sources (Mother Nature's dictate), the average GHG emissions per consumed energy unit varies substantially by time and location. Hence, it is critical to take temporal and spatial dimensions of energy sources into account to provide communication services not only for a better traceability of the energy sources used but in turn for enabling a more sustainable energy use. In the following use case, telecom operator provides the estimation of carbon emissions for the services. Note that ADEME, the French Agency for Ecological Transition, has introduced a methodological standard for the environmental assessment of digital services. [24] According to this standard, "internet service providers and telecoms operators (physical and virtual) for fixed and mobile networks must inform their subscribers of the amount of data consumed and indicate the equivalent in greenhouse gas emissions." The objective is to communicate on a monthly bill the carbon impact of a subscriber using the mobile network of operator 1 in <Month YEAR> with a consumption of <DV> GB is: <X> g CO2 eq.

Eva uses her XR device during the commute. This XR device receives 5G service from the mobile network operator A. The 5G system operated by operator A is powered by both of renewable energy (e.g., solar energy) and non-renewable energy (e.g., coal). Carbon intensity, defined as the quantity of CO2 equivalent emission per unit of final energy consumption for an operational period of use (e.g., gCO2 per kW/h), is used to estimate the amount of carbon emissions incurred by the 5G system operations. Such carbon intensity information can be collected from a third party. The operator A offers a "carbon-aware communication service" which provides the estimated carbon emissions of communication services. The estimation is based on the subscriber's data volume, the operator's energy consumption and the carbon intensity of network. The estimated carbon emissions information is exposed to the service provider B. Users can acquire the estimated carbon emissions from the service provider B. Eva loves our planet, so she prefers to know how her requested services produce carbon emissions.

1. Eva subscribes the communication service provided by operator A.
2. During the commute between the home and the workplace, Eva wears her XR device and enjoys the immersive entertainment via 5G system operated by operator A.
3. During the service time, the 5G system incurs carbon emissions due to the energy consumption.
4. The operator A collects the carbon intensity information of energy consumption from an authorized third party.
5. By "carbon-aware communication service", the operator A calculates the estimated carbon emissions for the service and exposes the estimated carbon emissions result to the service provider B.
6. From the service provider B, Eva can know the estimation of carbon emissions for her requested service from the operator A.

Eva can enjoy low-carbon XR entertainment with the awareness of its environmental impacts.

None.

[PR.5.10.6-1]