Ericsson unveiled its latest radio base station site concept; a wind-powered Tower Tube. The company worked with Vertical Wind AB and Uppsala University in Sweden to take its original Tower Tube concept one step further by employing renewable energy.
The Ericsson Tower Tube construction houses base stations and antennas in a concrete tower. The company estimates the Ericsson Tower Tube will reduce 30 percent CO2 emissions from its materials, production and transportation, compared with traditional steel towers.
The company says the Ericsson Tower Tube does not need feeders and cooling systems. This is expected to reduce power consumption by up to 40 percent compared with traditional base station sites.
In July, the company announced that a solar radio-site system will provide enough clean energy to power Digicel's network coverage in remote areas of Suriname.
Nokia has said that it wants to cut energy consumption at some of its mobile base stations by up to 40 percent by 2010. Vodafone has announced plans to reduce its carbon-dioxide emissions by 50 percent by 2020.
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