Indian Gov’t Works to Transform Cell Towers into “Green Towers”

India has 500 million mobile phone users — roughly 150 million more than the entire population of United States. That multitude of walkers and talkers requires some 250,000 cell phone towers, each consuming about 530 million gallons of diesel per year. As the Indian government strives to embrace renewable energy, its Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is working to convert those cell phone towers into “green towers.”

A potential mandate from the government just might make that happen. The plans were revealed last week when government officials unveiled a model for the new School of Green Energy Technologies at Pondicherry University in southeastern India. The Ministry hopes the move to solar cell phone towers will guide India closer to goals established by its National Solar Mission of installing 20,000 MW of solar power by 2022.

If all existing cell phone towers in India were switched to solar power, not only would all that diesel fuel be conserved, but some 5 million tons of carbon dioxide would be offset and $1.4 billion saved.

Story & Photo Via Inhabitat and The Hindu

Posted on April 6th in Solar News by Dan.