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Hidden impact of semiconductor manufacturing on climate change

First appeared in Times of India on 22nd February 2023

Semiconductor manufacturing contributes to 31% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and the increasing usage of electronic chips drives this upward trend. The production of smart meters and other electronics requires a substantial amount of electricity and fossil fuels. Improving product quality and longevity is crucial to combat the negative impact of product manufacturing on the environment. 

A very promising Annual Union Budget 2023-24 of India continues to focus on infrastructure development. The capital outlay for infrastructure was announced at more than US$ 100 billion, which is ~ 3.3% of GDP. Out of which, it is pledged to invest US$4.3 billion in green technology to clean up the country’s economy. This massive investment calls for huge government and also market procurements across sectors. 

Global efforts to address climate change: A multidimensional approach

From the Kyoto protocol in 1992 until the recent CoP-27 conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt in November 2022, over 2,860 laws and policies related to climate change have been implemented by 193 countries and the European Union. These policies include 2,203 measures to reduce emissions, 1,338 provisions for adapting to climate change, and 424 aimed at reducing catastrophic risks. According to the Climate Change Laws of the World (CCLW) database, policymakers’ policies related to electricity, forestry, food security, land use, transportation, and energy have received the most attention. It appears that addressing climate change requires a multi-dimensional approach that covers both the supply and demand aspects of decarbonisation to tackle this global crisis effectively.

Backed up by global affluence, our headcount is projected to touch 10 billion by 2060. This entails doubling raw material consumption across economies. Though UN “Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.2” targets efficient use of resources, there is a little conscious realisation of the energy and material consumption that takes place while manufacturing the products. Reports indicate that manufacturing contributes to 31% of global greenhouse gas emissions (~50 billion tons per year). This is more than electricity generation, contributing to 27% of the total emission. There is a continuous increment in the contribution to emissions through manufacturing. Contrary, the demand for steel, the primary metal in our society, is decreasing by 2% annually. Transport on the road and by air is becoming much more efficient. Aircraft nowadays are 70% more efficient than those in 1958.

The increasing role of semiconductors in rising global emissions

Then the question is – then, what is that increasing the emission? The answer is; semiconductors. Electronic chip usage is rising by 35% annually. Given how quickly technology is developing and how many people are getting added to the global population, this proportion will continue to rise. Digital gadgets use substantially more energy (7%) than is consumed globally (3%) by all devices combined. According to a life cycle analysis by Micro Commercial Components Corp. (MCC), fabricating semiconductor circuits on a 150-mm wafer uses 285 kWh of power or 1.6 kWh per square centimetre. In addition to electricity, fossil fuels used for semiconductor production include heavy oil, gas, LPG, and kerosene.

To understand the impact, let’s take the example from the policy initiative of the Government of India (GoI) for rolling out 250 million smart meters across the country. This injects another set of the semiconductor chip into the electrical circuit. Additionally, smart metres bring a variety of components, including back-end servers and communication infrastructure, both of which are semiconductor by-products. For ease of calculation, consider only one circuit of 150mm wafer per smart meter, which would require 285kWh of power to manufacture, which further comes out to be 71.250 GWh (285x 250 x 106 kWh) of electricity for 250 million such pieces. The energy cost of manufacturing electronics, polymers, dyes, etc., has not yet been determined.

Improving product quality and longevity for sustainable development

This calls for strategies to lessen the adverse effects of product manufacturing on the environment while preserving economic development and quality of life. To achieve this, we might improve the quality and increase the lifespan of the things we use. Along with benefiting the environment, higher-quality products also positively impact the economy. 

A study conducted at the National Institute for Environmental Studies of Japan analysed the extension of car lifetimes and its impact on the economy and the environment. The study found that extending car lifetimes by one year and shifting household consumption patterns from waste-intensive cars to waste-intensive services resulted in GDP growth of around 2 billion yen. This growth compensated for the economic loss from a decline, and the transition from a manufacturing product-intensive society to a service-intensive society led to a reduction in waste landfill volume of 200 thousand tonnes, which included residuals from car shredders, over the five-year study period from 1990 to 1995.

It’s time for economies and governments to focus on designing and implementing policies and regulations to improve the quality and longevity of the products used by individuals and institutions, especially government institutions, with tendencies of repeated expenditure. We must enforce product lifetime warranties to protect our environment and the public exchequer from these kinds of often occurring expenses. 

This will not only enforce quality and reliability in all the products but the money saved from repeated expenses can be spent on decarbonisation targets for the nation and contribution to the entire global issue of climate change.