Environmental impact of mobile phones revealed

The first carbon footprint assessment by a mobile telecom operator has revealed that making a five minute phone call is the equivalent of boiling a kettle to make a cup of tea.

The greenhouse gas emissions created by each minute of mobile talk time usage were calculated by O2, the UK-based service provider, when it mapped the entire life-cycle of both its voice and data services.

In exact figures, O2 discovered that a one minute phone call produces 3.6g carbon dioxide equivalent. Transferring one megabyte of data generates 11g of carbon dioxide equivalent.

As increasing numbers of large organisations publish their carbon footprint, the findings from O2 came as a result of the company having its carbon footprint independently verified by the Carbon Trust. It is the first mobile network operator to do so.

O2’s research was sparked by a Carbon Trust study that discovered public awareness of the environmental impacts of mobile phone networks was limited. Following their findings, O2 are now looking to deliver deep cuts in emissions as part of their sustainability plan, Think Big Blueprint, as unveiled earlier this year.

“Our aim is to develop the UK’s most carbon-efficient network,” said Gareth Rice, head of environment at O2. “[We will be] putting our own operations under the microscope and looking for ways to reduce the footprint we leave on the world.”

Image: Light has now been shed on the carbon footprint of mobile phone usage | flickr alumroot