TSMC, Samsung and Intel have a huge carbon footprint
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One man walks by the logo of TSMC at its headquarters in Hsinchu. Taiwan.
Sam Yeh | AFP | Getty Images
While computer chips might be scarce, semiconductor industries are abundant in carbon emissions.
Although tiny pieces of silicon can be vital to today’s tech-driven economies and their positive impact on the environment is often a good thing, it’s not always a good idea.
Vast amounts of energy are required to manufacture the chips that lie beneath the hood of a whole manner of items — from fighter jets and cars, to kettles and doorbells.
Harvard University research team wrote in 2020Chip manufacturing is responsible for the majority of carbon emissions from electronic devices.
Some of the renewable energy used in this production comes from renewable sources but most comes from fossil fuels, such as gas and coal. and some chipmakers now emit more carbon than well-known carmakers
Processes that use energy
Glenn O’Donnell analyst for Forrester says that power is required to perform several parts of the process of producing semiconductors.
The chipmakers must first take the raw silicon (i.e. O’Donnell said that silicon must be taken from the earth, melted down and purified, before being “grown” by “rods”. “The furnaces [needed]He said that people who do not have the energy to accomplish this task are very hungry.”
O’Donnell said that the rods made from purified silicon were then “sliced like deli meat and into thin wafers,” on which chips can be built.
In a sequence of steps, various materials are added to the wafers using energy-intensive equipment. O’Donnell explained that plasma etching-machines, plasma diffusors and ion implanters all use a lot of energy.
To alter the surface characteristics, wafers can be placed in diffusion furnaces for up to hours.
Taiwan’s chip behemoth
The majority of chips in the world are produced in Asia. Taiwan is a hotbed for activity due to its proximity to China. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing CompanyThis company makes more chips worldwide than any other.
Greenpeace Taiwan’s researcher Yung Chen Chen said that the company has the highest carbon emissions of any chipmaker. It is “way ahead” [of]Others,” she stated.
The Hsinchu-headquartered firm, which makes chips for the likes of AppleAnd TeslaAccording to Greenpeace, he uses more electricity per year than Taiwan’s capital Taipei.
TSMC emitted six million tons of carbon per year in 2017, eight million tons annually in 2019 and fifteen million in 2020, as a result its high power consumption. In recent years, TSMC has surpassed GM’s greenhouse gas emission levels. data from Bloomberg
Analyst at Gartner Alan Priestley stated that it is important to evaluate the emissions from semiconductor industries with those of other industries like logistics and aviation.
Chen shared the TSMC’s annual sustainability report’s emission data. They are also included in Chen’s “still increasing rapidly because of constant expansion.”
TSMC is actually in the process to set up new huge factories in Arizona, Taiwan and China. These multibillion dollar facilities will not only increase supply of chips but also will allow TSMC to use more electricity.
Switch to renewables
Chen stated that switching to cleaner electricity is key to reducing carbon emissions. He also said that chipmakers were “eager” for this to happen as quickly as possible.
After TSMC SamsungAnd IntelPriestley stated that the semiconductor industry has the second largest carbon footprint. He explained that business size has an impact on carbon footprint, as with many industries. The size of semi vendors will impact their carbon footprint.
CNBC spoke with industry heavyweights who said they are taking steps to reduce emissions while scaling up operations.
As the world watches to see the pledges made at the COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow, U.K.
TSMC stated this summer it is aiming to have net zero emissions by 2050. It also has a goal to reach 40% renewable energy companywide by 2030.
This is not easy considering Taiwan’s unique energy mix. Based on data from BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy report, 91.5% of Taiwan’s primary electricity was produced by fossil fuels.
Currently, TSMC consumes 4.8% of Taiwan’s total electricity output. Greenpeace forecasts this number to increase to 7.2% in 2022.
Nina Kao (TSMC deputy spokesperson) told CNBC the company intends to buy more renewable energy as well as carbon credits. It also plans to make its factory equipment more efficient and use energy conservation programs.
In July 2020TSMC has signed a 20-year agreement with Orsted in order to acquire the whole production of two offshore wind farm projects off Taiwan’s West Coast.
Samsung and Intel
In 2020, Samsung’s chips plants produced 12.9 Million Tonnes of equivalent CO2 equivalents. This made it the second largest carbon emitter within the semiconductor industry.
CNBC was told by a spokesperson that Samsung is constantly reviewing the effects of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on the whole manufacturing process. The company also said it optimizes its processes and materials to produce chips with an environmentally friendly approach. Although Samsung hasn’t officially announced its net-zero goal, the company is an integral part of South Korea’s plan to be carbon neutral by 2050.
Rival Intel is praised for cutting its carbon emissionsIn recent years.
While the company was producing 2.88 millions tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2020, it consumed 10.6 billion kilowatthours of electricity worldwide. In the three first months of 2021, a single Arizona fab used 561,000,000 kilowatt hours of energy.
CNBC’s Fawn Bergen, Corporate Sustainability Manager at Intel, stated that “reducing operational energie use is central to Intel’s overall climate strategy and its 2030 goals.”
Intel stated that 82% came from renewable sources in 2020.
Santa Clara chipmaker Intel said that last year it was involved in several energy-saving projects. Intel stated that similar initiatives will be used this year to help save an additional 125,000,000 kWh.
CNBC’s Abishur Prakash is a geopolitical strategy at the Center for Innovating the Future. She said it would be difficult to put into action the promises she made.
What if India proposed that all new smartphones must be made from sustainable factories by 2030? He stated.
Prakash stated, “Another problem is that companies like Apple could also set a goal.” “But, meeting those goals will require having the supply chain — spread over multiple tiers — to also get on board and create their own ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) strategies. This isn’t going to be an easy task.
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