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Sprint believes that energy conservation is the most important action it can take to reduce its emissions. Power management was highlighted in an employee-communications campaign as one of the “5 Green Things” that Sprint employees could do to help Sprint achieve its greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals. They were provided with facts about PC and monitor energy consumption, encouraged to turn off all lights and equipment when not in use, and put in power strips to facilitate nightly shutoff. Sprint is proud of the efforts employees are making to help reduce overall GHG emissions globally.
Sprint leads the wireless industry within the U.S. in terms of actual renewable energy in use. Sprint’s green-energy initiatives include wind, solar, hydrogen and geothermal power. Sprint began testing wind energy in 2004 with the purchase of Green-e wind energy certificates for a building on the Sprint World Headquarters Campus in Overland Park, Kan. In two years, Sprint prevented approximately 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere with these Green-e wind energy certificate purchases.
In April 2006, Sprint expanded its commitment to green-power use, announcing a five-year agreement with Kansas City Power & Light (KCP&L) that facilitated the building of the Spearville (Kan.) Wind Farm. As part of that agreement, Sprint agreed to purchase 87M kilowatt hours per year for its 200-acre Overland Park, Kan., headquarters campus from KCP&L via the Spearville, Kan. wind farm. In 2008, this accounted for 80% of Sprint’s campus energy needs. This purchase provided a reduction of 87, 519 metric tons of C02 equivalents in 2008 and is the equivalent of:
Sprint plans to expand its use of green power and currently ranks in the top 25 purchasers of green power in EPA’s Green Power Partnership Fortune 500 registry.
Sprint’s network consumes approximately 80% of the total corporate energy use. With such a significant percentage, the Network is our biggest priority in terms of finding energy improvement opportunities – both energy efficiency and deployment of renewable energy sources. Sprint has a partnership with the Department of Energy to conduct alternative-energy research and currently works with two national laboratories – Sandia in Albuquerque, N.M., and National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) in Golden, Colo. Their projects include energy storage and photovoltaic-panel research.
In an effort to produce green backup power during commercial power outages, Sprint has already deployed more than 250 hydrogen fuel cells at cell sites, with more installations planned. Sprint is also using solar-powered energy at cell sites in California and New York. The photovoltaic panels capture solar energy and power the site using sunlight during the day then switch back to commercial utility at night.
In addition, Sprint is exploring geothermal systems as a way to reduce electricity use by improving cooling efficiency and improving reliability by avoiding high-heat equipment shutdowns. In these systems, the heat from a cell site is transferred to a heat exchange system and cooled through wells drilled in the ground.
In April 2007, Sprint installed a small wind turbine on its Overland Park, Kan., campus to test use of wind as primary power for cell sites. The turbine was the first of its kind in the community and continues to provide excellent data for Sprint’s energy researchers. It is also iconic of Sprint’s commitment to alternative energy.
Sprint’s most exciting new achievement on green network energy is its award of a $7.3M United States Department of Energy grant for the expansion of hydrogen fuel cell deployment. Sprint, already a leader in fuel cells, will use the grant funding to expand its hydrogen fuel cell program at cell sites throughout the United States – creating 72 hours of additional network resiliency, especially critical during emergencies and natural disasters. As part of the grant, Sprint will work with hydrogen fuel cell manufacturers, tank providers and hydrogen suppliers to extend the unassisted run-time to 72 hours (57 hours more than the normal amount currently available). Sprint’s innovative work to extend the run-time of hydrogen fuel cells will benefit any industry with a need for longer and cleaner back-up power.
Click here to read an Energy Biz Magazine article written by Bob Azzi, Sprint Senior Vice President of Network about the future of hydrogen fuel cells as backup power for wireless networks.