China Mobile – the world’s largest mobile operator by subscribers – has announced a number of initiatives aimed at becoming a greener company. The plans are reported by environmental website greenbang and follow comments on the issue from the operator’s Chairman and CEO, Wang Jianzhou, at the Mobile World Congress last month. According to China Mobile’s latest CSR report, the company’s goal of its ‘Green Action Plan’ is to increase energy efficiency by 40% by 2010, compared to 2005 levels, and prevent the use of 8 billion kWh of electricity. The operator expects this to prevent the emission of over 6.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, equivalent to around 2.7 million tonnes of standard coal energy or taking over 1.7 million vehicles off the road for a year.

The report further adds that network equipment is the most energy intensive component of the operator’s business and the largest source of carbon emissions, with base stations accounting for more than 70% of total energy use. As a result, the operator is “working to scale up” its use of renewable energy such as wind and solar. Use of solar and wind energy in areas such as Inner Mongolia, Henan and Tibet have already proven successful. The report states that the operator is “designing base stations, data centers and offices with energy conservation in mind,” and will “establish a set of standards for packaging and transport to promote the use of alternative packaging and new reusable materials.” China Mobile also plans to reduce both excessive packaging and the use of wood-based packaging products.