An article from the Engineering and Technology Magazine published on 6 March 2010 is news-worthy because it talks about an initiative to cut carbon dioxide emission by one thousand folds within 5 years.  This is possibly the boldest claim we have heard for a while.

It refers to cellular or mobile phone global network operations.  According to CISCO forecasts, monthly global mobile data consumption will rise dramatically over the next 5 years. 

Year 2009 90 PByte
Year 2010 200
Year 2011 600
Year 2012 1200
Year 2013 2200
Year 2014 3600

Data consumption will grow 40 times over the period.  According to current estimates, today's (March 2010) global communications network is responsible for 300 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emission a year- the same as 20% of the cars on America's roads.  If we take everything we know today and apply it, at the very best we can hold emissions constant.  The article said.  The above is the background for the creation of Greentouch Alliance. 

Greentouch Alliance reckons that wireless networking is the energy hog of the communications network.  The efficiency of Radio Frequency power amplifiers is an area of attention.  Moving the signal processing electronics close to the antenna could half energy consumption.  Sleep modes for low load situations may reduce consumption to a quarter.  Algorithms for squeezing more data through a channel is another one.  More information will follow when available.