Eco-Efficient Solutions Reduce Energy, Costs

• Published in: Semiconductor International Vol. 31; no. 13; p. 42
• Main Authors: Neuber, Andreas, Sethia, Parth
• Format: Trade Publication Article
• Language: English
• Published: Newton Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier, Inc 01.12.2008
• Subjects: Best practice; Carbon footprint; Chemicals; Cooling; Cost control; Efficiency; Electronics industry; Energy; Environmental impact; Fluorides; Manufacturing; Perfluorocarbons; Semiconductor research; Sustainability; Sustainable development; Water treatment; United States > US
• ISSN: 0163-3767

For 40 years, the basic tenet of Moore's Law to continuously reduce the transistor cost per function has been the major driving force of the semiconductor industry, allowing for unprecedented growth rates. Although this still holds true, today the semiconductor industry must also drive toward improved sustainability, carbon footprint reduction, energy savings and resource conservation to meet requirements set by regulatory authorities and other stakeholders, and to accommodate the limited availability of resources. It is an increasingly difficult challenge to maintain sustainable growth of semiconductor manufacturing in many regions because several target parameters for "green manufacturing" need to be aligned. Often, the major challenge is to find practical solutions that offer the best compromise between the sustainability targets, which sometimes conflict with each other. Several environmental parameters must be considered to improve eco-efficiency, and what is equally important is to understand the interactions between the parameters. Figure 1 shows typical environmental parameters of concern. As illustrated, these parameters are interrelated, so when setting targets for one of them, it is important to evaluate the impact on the others.