Page 34 - EE Times Europe Magazine – November 2023

34 EE|Times EUROPE

OPINION | GREENER ELECTRONICS | SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING

Finding and Adopting Another 0.1% is contributed by upstream and

Low-Carbon Energy to downstream suppliers and users.
Decarbonization efforts that outpace
the growing carbon footprint are needed to
Make Chips reach net zero. Semiconductor companies in
the industry recognize the need to address
the largest and most difficult sources of
emissions to set the path toward net zero
By Mousumi Bhat and Heidi Hoffman, SEMI by 2050 within the 1.5°C pathway. Reduc-
ing emissions from the supply chain and
The industry issues a call to climate action for the the electricity used by electronic devices
requires access to low-carbon energy for
semiconductor value chain. consumers and companies worldwide.
Intel, Applied Materials and IBM used
The Intergovernmental Panel on SEMICON West 2023 to publicly announce
Climate Change (IPCC), the United their significant progress within the parts
Nations’ body for assessing the science of the value chain in their control. Other
related to climate change, released its companies in the semiconductor industry are
2023 Climate Change Report last March. making similar commitments.
The document describes a rapidly closing A recently published report from the
window of opportunity to secure a livable SCC and Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
and sustainable future, and it signals an analysts, titled “Transparency, Ambition,
urgent call for integrated climate action. and Collaboration: Advancing the Climate
The Semiconductor Climate Consortium (SCC), a group of 90 companies, has joined the effort Agenda of the Semiconductor Value Chain,”
to campaign for consolidated climate action from the semiconductor value chain. At the UN’s found that electricity is the largest lever for
Climate Change Conference (COP27), it officially declared its support for the Paris Agreement reducing emissions. Identifying low-carbon
and related accords driving the 1.5°C pathway and aligning on the need to drive climate progress energy sources will address more than 80%
within the semiconductor value chain. of industry emissions primarily by reducing
Meanwhile, the semiconductor industry value chain’s expanding activities continue to con- the electricity used to manufacture and
tribute to its carbon footprint. Unfortunately, the progress made in adopting renewable energy then use devices, which could be achieved
sources and the efforts to aggressively bring energy efficiency to manufacturing electronics with bold and decisive investments in
have been outpaced by the increased consumption and use of these devices. As semiconduc- low-carbon energy.
tors become more economical to purchase and operate, consumers demand more. If the energy The report also offers findings on:
consumed by semiconductors continues to increase, reducing energy-related emissions will • The baseline of value chain emissions.
require significant investments to accelerate transitioning the sources of energy to low-carbon Semiconductor devices produced in 2021
energy alternatives. have a lifetime CO 2 equivalent footprint
The semiconductor manufacturing value chain, which encompasses wafer fabrication, chip of 500 MT: 16% from supply chain,
design, packaging, assembly and test, is directly responsible for 0.3% of global carbon emissions. 21% from manufacturing and 63% from
device use.
• The dilemma of value chain emis-
sions. Digital technologies that require
semiconductors play a significant role in
reducing energy use and emissions across
industries. However, the growth in the
carbon footprint because of these devices
also continues to grow.
• Future manufacturing-emissions
scenarios. Current government and
company commitments will substantially
reduce manufacturing emissions, but they
are still forecast to overshoot the carbon
budget for the 1.5°C pathway by 2.3 GT of
CO 2 equivalents by 2050.
• Investment and innovation to identify
solutions that decouple emissions and
growth. Emissions from manufacturing
process gases will require considerable
research and development to address; IMAGE: ADOBE STOCK
hence, investments are needed now.
The same is true for the transition to
low-carbon energy.

NOVEMBER 2023 | www.eetimes.eu