A report shows the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from Korea’s three major telecommunications companies increased significantly as a result of growth in their data center business.
The sustainability management report by each of the telecom companies of SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus showed the emissions amounted to more than 3.66 million tCO2e last year, a 4% increase from the previous year. This is mainly due to the nature of data centers that consumes a large amount of electricity since they need to operate 24 hours a day for data storage, processing, and utilize cooling equipment.
SK Telecom opened two data centers in the wealthy district of Bundang in Seongnam and recorded increased sales of 49 billion won (US$ 36.5 million) during the second quarter, a 30% increase from the same period last year.
LG Uplus recorded 79.8 billion won (US$ 59.4 million) in sales from its data center unit during the second quarter, a 15.5% increase from the same period last year. It marked the steepest growth among sectors relating to corporate infrastructure.
KT’s cloud and data center unit reported sales of 47.5 billion won (US$ 35.4 million) during the second quarter, a 4.6% increase from the same period last year.
The reports also stated a steep rise in the volume of data traffic following increased 5G installments. SK Telecom said data traffic from domestic wireless devices is currently approaching 1 million terabytes. The company expects traffic to soar with the widespread availability of user-friendly robots, autonomous driving, and urban air transportation.
The growth potential brought on by fast connectivity is making it harder for the telecom operators to meet their 2030 reduction goals. SK Telecom has pledged to cut 47.7% of emissions by 2030 from its 2020 levels. KT and LG Uplus had announced plans to slash their emissions by 51.7% and 38% respectively, by 2030 from 2021 levels.
Korea currently operates an emissions trading system, allowing companies to sell the surplus of emissions and buy shortage. Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT is considering lowering the telecom’s burden of greenhouse gas emissions, similar to the country’s railroad and public transportation sectors by recognizing the “public nature” of the companies’ services.
According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, the average annual power consumption per data center is 25 gigawatt-hours, equivalent to 6,000 households of four people.