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Semiconductor manufacturing has an infinite carbon footprint, from the mining processes used to extract and refine the part supplies to the chip fabrication steps themselves. Sustainability, nonetheless, doesn’t simply apply to shrinking carbon footprints. The sustainability crucial offers a novel opening for semiconductor corporations to enhance manufacturing and create new services and products.
Beneath are among the high methods semiconductor producers can begin using right this moment to enhance their sustainability targets for tomorrow. These are designed round knowledge mastery (analytics), inexperienced tech, provide chain administration, and round design.
Sustainable semiconductor manufacturing methods
Knowledge Mastery
Knowledge mastery will not be solely key to a sustainable future, but in addition the brand new forex for aggressive benefit. Semiconductor manufacturing analytics embrace knowledge technique targets, knowledge engineering necessities, and yield enchancment use circumstances to drive strategic development insights.
Manufacturing analytics can generate tangible worth, equivalent to lowering machine downtime by as much as 50% and bettering manufacturing yield by 5-15% by leveraging machine and deep studying, in accordance with Accenture.
Among the key instruments and greatest practices that semiconductor producers can leverage embrace:
- Harness knowledge engineering together with abstraction layers and knowledge meshing.
- Remodel complicated semiconductor variables right into a virtuous cycle of perception and decisiveness with AI and ML insights for cumulative worth creation.
- Make the most of new instruments to leverage contemporary worth throughout core manufacturing steps from design to fabrication, meeting, check, and transport.
Inexperienced Tech
Organizations can shift to hyperscale knowledge facilities and optimize their cloud utilization to scale back general power use. They will additionally “inexperienced” their remaining power utilization by switching to areas with extra direct native renewables and operating workloads at a time of day when renewables can be found.
To take action, companies want to begin with establishing a baseline of current knowledge middle power consumption, computing necessities, and sustainability targets. The subsequent step lies in quantifying the “greenness” of potential cloud answer choices, based mostly on a variety of knowledge such because the cloud service suppliers’ carbon emissions targets, places, power sources, and readiness to transition to wash power
Semiconductor corporations can be taught from different industries and the way they used this technique to make an impression. For instance, when a giant mining firm started its transition to the cloud, it wanted to higher perceive its CO₂ footprint, particularly emissions in its knowledge facilities, and the way its ongoing cloud transition may contribute to emission reductions.
By gathering knowledge on power consumption for its 32 knowledge facilities, the corporate gained a greater understanding of the impression of cloud on emissions in addition to potential financial savings by means of a cloud migration. It additionally elevated its information of the way it may additional leverage cloud in its strategic operations. The corporate was then capable of flip this evaluation into motion and obtain the next:
- Estimated emission reductions of roughly 5,000 metric tons.
- Estimated 90% discount within the carbon footprint of its knowledge facilities
However these initiatives may happen straight within the fab. Intel, for instance, launched a brand new cooling system in its Oregon fab that reduces water, power, and air air pollution by recovering the warmth eliminated by cooling techniques to supply heating for its buildings. This helped scale back water necessities for this facility by about 45 million gallons per yr and CO₂ emissions from its boilers by about 80%.
Provide Chain Administration
Coordination and collaboration throughout the provision chain is crucial. That’s the reason SEMI’s Sustainability Advisory Council is contemplating easy methods to standardize sustainability reporting processes and higher share correct knowledge all through the provision chain.
Firms additionally have to pursue accountable sourcing with their suppliers. For instance, producers equivalent to ASML are becoming a member of the Accountable Enterprise Alliance, the world’s largest business coalition devoted to company social accountability in international electronics provide chains.
As a part of its involvement, ASML has adopted the RBA Code of Conduct, which is a set of social, environmental, and moral business requirements. They count on key suppliers to take part on this widespread effort and encourage them to develop their very own sustainability methods, insurance policies, and processes, and to actively pursue their very own suppliers’ adherence to this code.
One other efficient technique for provide chain administration lies in bettering reverse logistics equivalent to restore, refurbishment, repackaging, recycling, and materials harvesting. These can successfully scale back an organization’s environmental, social, and financial impression.
Round Design
Between smartphone improve cycles and knowledge facilities swapping out servers to maintain up with the calls for of IoT and AI, greater than 50 million metric tons of digital waste accumulate yearly. The uncooked supplies alone are value an estimated $60 billion.
As an alternative of making an attempt to recycle after the very fact, engineering groups want to think about sustainability on the design stage. In response to Accenture analysis, designing merchandise for reuse, resale, restore, refurbishment, and remanufacturing can increase working revenue for an organization by 16%. As well as, modifying enterprise fashions for restoration of merchandise can deliver as much as 35% in value financial savings, an 80% discount in materials losses, and a forty five% discount in CO₂ emissions.
program for servers (Supply: Accenture, No Time to E-Waste, 2020) (Click on picture to enlarge)
Onwards to Extra Sustainability
With the expansion of the IoT and the widespread availability of AI and machine studying, semiconductor producers lastly have the instruments to tame knowledge overload and obtain excessive ranges of innovation and yield enhancements.
The time is true for the business to work collectively to assist enhance sustainability and begin assembly ESG targets.
