The NTT Group will set a new goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to virtually zero by 2040.


A next-generation communication network that uses optical technology called "IOWN", the pillar is to significantly reduce power consumption, and we aim to achieve it earlier than the government's carbon-neutral target time.

Until now, NTT has not set a greenhouse gas reduction target, but according to the people concerned, it will set a group-wide target for the first time, including NTT DoCoMo, NTT East Japan, and West Japan.



The goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% or more compared to 2013 by 2030, and to achieve virtually zero by 2040.



The pillar of achieving the goal is a next-generation network called "IOWN" that uses optical technology instead of electronic technology for information processing and communication.



It has the characteristic of reducing power consumption to 1/100, and by introducing and expanding this technology in data centers, base stations, communication equipment, etc., we expect 45% of the total reduction effect.



In addition, we plan to increase the use of solar power generation and wind power generation, aiming to achieve it earlier than the government's carbon-neutral target by 2050.



While digitalization is accelerating worldwide, the issue is how to curb power consumption in rapidly increasing data centers, and there is a possibility that the use of optical technology will expand.

What is the next-generation communication network "IOWN"?

IOWN, a next-generation communication network that uses optical technology, is an area that NTT is focusing on development.



The basic communication line already uses optical fiber to communicate with "optical", but IOWN also uses "optical" for information transmission and processing to the terminal at hand.



If realized, it is said that it will be possible to perform much faster and larger capacity communication than now, such as downloading 10,000 2-hour movies while blinking.



And another big feature is low power consumption.



When sending electrical signals, energy loss occurs, but with optical technology, there is almost no loss, and it can be reduced to one-hundredth of the current communication network.



NTT plans to first put into practical use a technology that uses light for communication between chips by 2025, and then develop a technology that also uses light for information processing inside the chip.

Power consumption in the information and communication field

In the field of information and communication, it is expected that the amount of data communication will increase significantly in the future due to the widespread use of IoT and AI, which connect all devices via the Internet.



According to the Japan Science and Technology Agency, it is estimated that the traffic volume in 2030 will be more than 30 times that in 2016.



Along with this, power consumption is expected to increase, and another estimate by the Japan Science and Technology Agency shows that the power consumption of the entire domestic data center will be 2018 if the current equipment is used continuously. It is expected to increase more than 6 times, and then increase steadily to 850 times by 2050.



NTT believes that the use of semiconductors using optical technology in electronic devices such as personal computers and robots in the manufacturing industry as well as in the field of information and communications may lead to a reduction in greenhouse gases.