Connecting for a Clean Energy Future
Addressing tough challenges is often about making the right connections; bringing together the right people, resources and goals to inspire action. As one of the world’s largest Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) companies, connectivity is at the centre of what we do at AT&T – and we have brought that mindset to one of the biggest challenges of our time – addressing climate change. To do this, we are making significant investments in renewable energy, reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, and working with our customers to reduce their emissions by using the power of our technology. We’re working closely with the GSMA on a case study that explores our renewable energy program in more detail to address Network Economics and how AT&T is diversifying its energy mix.
This is the core of our 10x goal, a commitment we have made to enable carbon savings ten times the footprint of our operations by 2025. This effort connects our actions on renewable energy, energy efficiency, and customer solutions – to help us achieve our business goals while having a positive impact on our planet.
At the beginning of the year, we announced that we are going big on renewable energy to scale solutions, help create jobs and support America’s transition to a low-carbon economy. To date, we have purchased 820 megawatts (MW) of wind energy – one of the largest corporate purchases of clean power in the U.S. The carbon savings from AT&T-backed wind power projects are equivalent to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with taking more than 530,000 vehicles off the road each year.[1]
AT&T-backed wind energy centres will include more than 300 wind turbines that use no water for power generation, allowing the land to remain in agricultural use. We will continue to explore additional renewable energy investments and solutions for the future.
But those efforts do not stand alone. Our large-scale renewable energy investments are just one way our company is working to become more energy efficient. We recognize that finding ways to be more innovative in how we are using energy can help us better manage resources and lower costs. In fact, since 2010, we’ve implemented more than 83,000 energy efficiency projects, resulting in annualized savings of $575 million.
Finally, as part of our 10x goal, we have made sure to connect our efforts to reduce our own environmental impacts on how we can deploy technology to enable our customers to reduce theirs. AT&T’s 10x goal is based on the findings of the SMARTer2030 report. This research found that increased use of information and communications technology (ICT) can enable a 20% reduction in global carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, holding them at 2015 levels – and translating into a reduction nearly 9.7 times our industry’s own footprint.
Among other things, our efforts to achieve this goal include working closely with select customers to see how our technology can be used to scale environmental efforts for their businesses. You can read about these projects on AT&T’s 10x website.
Put together, these individual efforts are part of a larger strategy from one of the world’s largest companies to use innovation, technology and scale to make a positive impact on the planet. We do these things because they are good for our business and the planet. Making connections is what we do best – and it’s one way our company is working to help solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
[1] EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator: https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator
The AT&T Case Study is coming soon. Please check back later.
The GSM Association (“Association”) makes no representation, warranty or undertaking (express or implied) with respect to and does not accept any responsibility for, and hereby disclaims liability for the accuracy or completeness or timeliness of the information contained in this document.