In 2022, the world’s population stands at about 7.7 billion people, with the UN predicting it will reach 10.1 billion by the year 2100. The demand for energy in the form of electricity is expected to grow nearly 50% globally by 2050, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). To meet the growing global population’s need for transportation, communication, clean air, and clean water, international communities and utilities are rapidly converting energy production from fossil fuels to renewable sources such as wind, solar, and hydro. At the same time, vehicles, buildings, appliances, and other traditional fuel-consuming applications are being electrified. As major consumers of electrical power, the data center and telecommunications industries are helping to lead the efforts towards clean energy adoption and sustainability.
The October 2021 TIA white paper entitled “Where’s the Edge?” created a framework of edge computing implementations as envisioned by the telecommunications industry. In this paper, we now explore how the Information Technology (IT) sector can overcome the challenges of powering new infrastructure in disparate locations, while also meeting global and corporate decarbonization goals.
