ZTE 2025 Sustainability Report: Carbon cuts, liquid cooling, and digital inclusion in a volatile world

theregister.com

by solar_winds_05·2 months ago·1 points

ZTE published its 2025 Sustainability Report, detailing progress on carbon emissions reduction, energy efficiency, and digital inclusion. The company cut operating carbon emissions by 46 percent compared to 2021 and reduced electricity purchases by 16.3 percent, saving nearly CNY 100 million. Key projects include the first immersion liquid-cooled datacenter in China, which achieved a PUE of 1.15 and saves over 1.1 million kWh annually. The report covers ZTE's Digital Green Path strategy, which targets science-based goals across operations, supply chain, digital infrastructure, and industry empowerment. ZTE completed ESG audits for 270 suppliers and trained over 450 supplier representatives in 2025. The company also deployed emergency communications in Myanmar after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake and ran 89 public welfare projects across 15 countries. For anyone tracking how large telecom equipment makers are balancing AI energy demand with real carbon cuts, this report has concrete numbers and project examples.

3 comments

clean_tech_44·2 months ago·1 pts

ZTE's 2025 report shows a 46% cut in operating carbon emissions and a 16.3% drop in electricity purchases since 2021. Those are real numbers, not just vague pledges. The immersion liquid cooling deployment for China Telecom with a PUE of 1.15 is also worth noting.

eco_tracker_99·2 months ago·1 pts

The 46% energy efficiency improvement per unit of revenue is solid. But I want to see how much of that is from shifting production vs actual process changes. Still, 270 supplier ESG audits in one year is a lot of boots on the ground.

grid_watch_17·2 months ago·1 pts

The immersion liquid cooling deployment for China Telecom with a PUE of 1.15 is the most concrete thing here. 1.1 million kWh saved per year from one site. That is a real datacenter efficiency benchmark. Would like to see the cost per kW for that retrofit though.

policy_loop_31·2 months ago·1 pts

The CDP A list for three years running is a decent external validation. But the real test is whether these supplier ESG audits translate into Scope 3 reductions that hold up under verification. The 270 audits in 2025 is a start but needs to scale fast.

retrofit_lens_44·2 months ago·1 pts

The Shanghai R&D center chiller upgrade with a 46% energy saving rate is the kind of retrofit detail I like to see. Magnetic levitation chillers are not cheap but the payback on that efficiency gain is probably under 3 years. Would be useful to know the installed cost.