Reducing emissions in our operations

Our 2025 goals

To reduce our GHG emissions by 50%

To purchase 100% of the electricity we use from renewable sources

Data growth

Mobile data continues to rise at a rapid rate.

It is predicted that by 2022²:

global mobile data traffic will be over 100 times the volume in 2012;
global mobile data traffic will account for 20% of global total IP (fixed and mobile data) traffic, up from 9% in 2017;
the number of devices connected to IP networks will be more than three times the global population;

And that by 2025:

Internet of Things connections will reach over 25 billion, up from 9 billion in 2018³.

39% increase anticipated in mobile internet users between 2018 and 2025¹

Our GHG emissions

Our total 2019 global GHG emissions, including emissions over which we have direct control (Scope 1) and emissions from purchased electricity (Scope 2), were 2.00 million tonnes of CO₂e. This was a decrease of just over 3% from last year (2018), predominantly due to a reduction in the carbon emissions associated with purchased electricity.

We are also working to analyse our Scope 3 emissions, which are the indirect emissions over which we have no direct control, but may be able to influence. They include emissions from our suppliers when providing us with goods and services, emissions from our joint ventures over which we do not have operational control, and emissions associated with the use of our products and services by our customers.

Our efforts to reduce Scope 3 emissions are concentrated where we believe we can make the biggest impact: joint venture businesses, our suppliers and business travel.

	Scope 1	Scope 2	Total
2017	0.30	1.72	2.02
2018	0.29	1.77	2.06
2019	0.26	1.74	2.00

We will meet our targets through a combination of further investment in energy efficiency initiatives across our networks, particularly in power supply and cooling, and moving towards purchasing 100% of our electricity from renewable sources.

Optimising our energy consumption through efficiency measures

As customer demand for data continues to grow at a rapid rate, ever-greater demands are placed on our access networks and technology centres. We are prioritising new and existing measures to increase our energy efficiency in order to reduce the GHG emissions associated with our operations.

We are committed to improving energy efficiency in our base station sites and in our technology (data and switching) centres, which together account for the vast majority of our total global energy consumption.

This year, we focused on implementing improved efficiency savings for power supply and cooling systems at our sites. We use large numbers of servers and other network equipment, which generate significant amounts of heat during their operation. Cooling technologies are therefore an essential part of our energy strategy, as too much heat can harm components and lead to network failure.

	Our base station sites	Our technology centres	Our offices	Our retail stores
2017	3,651	1,510	350	51
2018	3,637	1,569	308	55
2019	3,684	1,571	282	45

The amount of energy our business uses varies across our operations

66%

for

Our base station sites

28%

for

Our technology centres

for

Our offices

for

Our retail stores

Optimising our power-intensive equipment

We work with our equipment vendors to ensure that increased demand and business growth do not result in a similar percentage increase in electricity usage.

This year, we:

made energy efficiency a mandatory requirement in the procurement process for all energy-intensive network and IT products;
developed more sustainable network technology, including the introduction of machine learning algorithms to optimise the usage of radio resources with minimum energy consumption; and
evaluated emerging technology, including development of an innovation hub (Green Island) to showcase different technologies that promote sustainability and energy efficiency in radio access sites.

Using adiabatic cooling solutions in hot climates

We have been using free-air cooling systems in many of our technology centres for several years. They are more cost and energy efficient than conventional air conditioning solutions but are not always effective in hot climates. To address this limitation, we are introducing adiabatic cooling systems.

Adiabatic cooling works by spraying water into the air before entering the existing free cooling chillers. As the water evaporates, the air is chilled. In Portugal, we have an adiabatic cooling system that switches on automatically whenever external temperatures rise above 24°C, approximately one fifth of the operating time. This has resulted in savings of about 35 MWh (5% of total cooling energy required) in one year.

We are installing adiabatic cooling solutions in other markets where high temperatures are prevalent.

Moving to 100% renewable electricity

We rely on on-grid power sources for 95% of our energy needs. To date, the proportion of our electricity from renewable sources has been low, accounting for just 15% of the electricity purchased. Our new goal will help us to drive the use of an ever-increasing amount of renewable energy over the coming years.

We are working towards our target to purchase 100% renewable electricity globally by 2025, by increasing the procurement of energy from renewable power generation sources via national electricity grids, selecting tariffs with renewable attributes and purchasing renewable energy certificates.

	Grid electricity	Grid renewable energy	On-site renewable energy	Diesel and petrol	Other
2019	4,516	821	5	165	74

Increasing integration of renewable energy into national grids

The expansion of renewable energy sources for on-grid electricity generation is a critical aspect of efforts to mitigate climate change. However, two of the most common renewable sources – wind and solar photovoltaic generation – fluctuate in efficiency depending on weather conditions. This inconsistency of supply has important implications for national power transmission grids that must be able to route electricity from power stations dynamically to make up any shortfall in capacity.

The SmartNet consortium was established to address these challenges. The consortium seeks to improve coordination between national grid transmission operators and electricity distributors, as well as to encourage cross-industry research and development into the energy storage technologies required to manage fluctuations in supply and demand.

Vodafone is one of 22 participating members of the SmartNet consortium, supporting the three-year research project. In Spain, we have successfully tested 18 base station sites over the last 18 months to test energy storage during periods of excess grid power generation capacity, then later releasing the energy stored back into the national grid to help address supply shortages.

The research has demonstrated that this scheme could be expanded in the future, where local regulation allows, to make the most of the telecom operators’ power resources and avoid igniting non-renewable power plants.

Our contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Our approach is contributing to SDG 13

SDG 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

We are also contributing to SDG 7

SDG 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

Find out more about our contribution to the UN SDGs

We believe we can have the greatest impact on five of the UN SDGs through our networks, products and services and through the work of the Vodafone Foundation.

Our commitments to reduce our GHG emissions, move to renewable electricity sources and improve our energy efficiency particularly support SDG 13, which is focused on climate action, and SDG 7, which includes a focus on clean energy.