Networks Contribute to Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Digital communication networks are powerful tools connecting individuals and entities within communities, businesses, and supply chains, offering immense advantages. While these networks have evolved into vital assets for our society, it’s important to acknowledge that they also contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Therefore, network operators must continuously work towards mitigating the potential environmental impact of these networks.
Nokia is taking a proactive approach to embed sustainability into its core mission. The organization is dedicated to developing technology that fosters global collaboration. It firmly believes that it holds a distinctive position to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges, where connectivity and digitalization will play pivotal roles.
Technology Industry’s Impact on the Environment
The current industry landscape is heavily influenced by cloud applications and services, which are the driving force behind customers’ networks. Whether it’s the rollout of 5G, ongoing digital transformation in the enterprise sector, or the shift towards the consumer, enterprise, or industrial metaverse, connectivity and digitalization are central to this evolution.
As of January 2023, there are approximately five billion active Internet users worldwide, and this number continues to rise, with growth contingent on the evolution of IP network infrastructure. There are concerns around the ongoing need for capacity expansion, estimated at around 29%, as well as adapting to changing traffic patterns. Additionally, there is a requirement to accommodate a broader range of services with diverse and stringent requirements while ensuring the security of these vital IP network infrastructures.
Meeting the UN Paris Agreement target, aimed at limiting the average global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050, requires innovative solutions. Currently, the cloud sector’s share of the carbon footprint is estimated to increase from 3.8% in 2020 to 8% in 2030.
The information and communication technology (ICT) industry has the potential to exert a substantial net positive influence on GHG emissions by assisting other industries – such as transportation, mining, energy, agriculture, and manufacturing – in enhancing productivity while reducing energy consumption.
Nokia’s Commitment
Nokia has demonstrated its leadership in sustainability by being among the first 100 companies to establish ambitious Science-Based Targets (SBTs) in accordance with the UN Paris Agreement.
In April 2021, Nokia reaffirmed its commitment to SBTs by setting a sustainability agenda with a commitment to reduce GHG emissions by 50% by 2030, using 2019 as the baseline reference. Additionally, Nokia pledged to transition to 100% renewable electricity for its facilities by 2025.
Nokia is dedicated to leveraging technology leadership to address pressing global issues like climate change. Their advanced connectivity solutions play a pivotal role in the worldwide effort to reduce carbon emissions, limit resource consumption, promote material reuse, minimize waste, and ensure inclusive access to digital services for all. These contributions exemplify the positive impact, often referred to as the “handprint,” of digitization and connectivity.
Nokia is adopting a holistic approach, considering both its internal operations and engaging with stakeholders across its value chain. Its focus extends to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals and impacts, encompassing all aspects, from suppliers to customers. This comprehensive perspective underscores its dedication to environmental responsibility and social well-being, reflecting its commitment to a sustainable and responsible future.
Nokia IP Networks
The primary mission of the Nokia IP Networks team has always revolved around delivering industry-leading solutions and expertise to address the most intricate IP networking challenges. The IP Networks team is firmly committed to assisting customers in enhancing their IP networks’ performance, scalability, reliability, and programmability. Just as significant, Nokia’s dedication extends to helping customers reduce the environmental impact associated with the use of the products they provide.
From an environmental standpoint, Nokia works closely with its customers to address the sustainability aspects of their critical IP networks. This perspective emphasizes energy efficiency, the maximization of network lifespan, and product circularity.
Energy Efficiency
Nokia is actively collaborating with its customers to reduce energy consumption and decrease Scope 3 GHG emissions. This effort is in response to the ongoing increase in network capacity demands, the expansion of network infrastructure, the need to support diverse and highly detailed service level agreements (SLAs), and growing security threats to IP networks.
Through the diversity of Nokia’s IP portfolio, they are able to offer customers a range of options tailored to their specific applications and network roles, encompassing the wide area network (WAN) — which includes edge, core, access, and aggregation points — as well as data centers. The organization’s portfolio provides technology choices that emphasize a balanced approach, with platforms designed to meet network requirements using “fit for application” silicon technologies. These technologies are optimized for performance, energy efficiency, feature set, scalability, and physical footprint.
Its network operating system software is built on a common software base with a demonstrated history of quality, offering advanced Network Operations (NetOps) capabilities. It aims to simplify operational processes and reduce integration costs, further underscoring Nokia’s commitment to improving efficiency and providing high-quality solutions.
Nokia maintains its commitment to silicon innovation with the development of the FP5 and FPcx network processors. These processors represent top-of-the-line IP network processor silicon, purposefully designed and fine-tuned to meet service providers’ exacting network operating needs. By enabling the full range of FP5 and FPcx silicon features, Nokia has achieved an impressive 75% reduction in power consumption compared to the previous FP4 generation. At the same time, the FP5 offers a remarkable threefold increase in capacity within the same power envelope, along with intelligent aggregation capabilities contributing to even greater reductions in power consumption. In addition, the processors incorporate highly scalable and programmable line rate security features to bolster critical IP network security and reduce network power consumption and physical footprint.
Their innovation extends to system design as well. It encompasses dual-sided PCB design, systems architecture, technology integration, and forward-thinking airflow management. These elements collectively result in unparalleled high-density optics cooling, lower fan speeds, and an overall reduction in system energy consumption.
Nokia’s network automation solutions empower customers to efficiently monitor and optimize their IP networks, utilizing standardized principles and tools that oversee the complete IP network infrastructure across both the wide area network (WAN) and data center environments. This approach is grounded in model-driven management and streaming telemetry, which drive a closed-loop automation process, while advanced diagnostics results in heightened levels of automation, assurance, and network optimization.
Specifically, the advanced diagnostics allow customers to expand remote maintenance, enabling self-healing capabilities for routine tasks and potentially reducing the amount of network equipment needed to ensure resiliency. This streamlined approach to network operations and resource utilization can significantly enhance energy efficiency while concurrently reducing GHG emissions.
Maximize Network Lifespan
By extending the lifespan of Nokia’s networks, the company has achieved several significant advantages, including heightened network reliability, lowered total cost of ownership (TCO), and sustainability benefits.
The benefits of extending the network’s lifespan are multifaceted. Over the course of the network’s life, Nokia has observed reductions in the natural resources needed for replacement parts and a decrease in the volume of network components heading for landfills or undergoing carbon-intensive processing.
A highly programmable network processor empowers Nokia to adapt swiftly to changing market demands, standards, and protocol requirements, ranging from MPLS to EVPNs and segment routing to 5G transport networks. Their track record demonstrates that they can repurpose the same hardware for various use cases without compromising on performance or functionality, effectively extending the network deployment lifespan.
Looking forward, the FP5 silicon is designed with the capability to support up to 1.6T clear channel interfaces, ensuring support for 400G and 800G today and 1.6T clear channel in the future. Each generation of Nokia’s FP silicon technology is deliberately designed with backward compatibility in mind. FP5 cards can seamlessly operate in existing 7750 SR platforms, coexisting with FP4 line cards, running full features at full line rate without compromise. Notably, the introduction of FP5 does not necessitate the upgrade of the system’s power and cooling infrastructure, preserving the lifespan of deployed services, line cards, and systems. With the added flexibility of licensing, this approach enables economical scalability to meet evolving needs.
Nokia’s design philosophy strongly emphasizes ensuring the maximum possible lifespan of its systems and technologies within its customer networks. This commitment provides investment protection for their customers – safeguarding their technology investments – and also plays a pivotal role in reducing systems’ environmental impact.
By designing products for long-term use and adaptability, Nokia can help extend the life of technology deployments in customers’ networks. This approach benefits their customers economically by reducing the need for frequent technology upgrades and has positive environmental implications. It results in reduced waste, lower resource consumption, and decreased emissions associated with manufacturing and disposal of electronic equipment.
Product Circularity
Nokia’s dedication to sustainability and circular practices has been a cornerstone of its operations for 25 years. The organization is an active Remanufacturing Industries Council (RIC) member and adheres to ANSI-approved standards for remanufacturing products to a “like-new condition.” They also continue to augment the use of recycled materials in their product offerings. Modular components and products that cannot be repurposed or reused at the end of their lifecycle are directed to recycling and recovery vendors, where they are transformed into reclaimed materials for other applications or industries, aligning with the goal of reducing environmental impact.
In addition to prioritizing energy efficiency and network longevity, Nokia’s design practices also maximize the effectiveness of its take-back program. They do this by designing products for modularity, repairability, remanufacturing, and ease of deconstruction for material recycling. This approach enhances the organization’s commitment to sustainability and minimizes the volume and negative environmental impact of materials used in Nokia products.
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