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of the manufacturing process, managing how new technologies are applied based on sustainability goals is not
always straightforward — especially when one considers
the sources of electricity in various parts of the world. For
example, in gas abatement approaches (a technology offered
by Edwards), a fuel is often used to essentially “burn”
materials to create more desirable byproducts. Would it be
better to use electricity instead of fuel? “Where does electricity come from? How do you count it if somebody’s paid
for renewable energy credits, where the overall country has
a very poor percentage of renewables in supply and actually
doesn’t have very clean electricity?” Wilson asks. “It’s not
necessarily fixing the problem for that country as a whole.”
End use complexity
Another aspect of optimizing sustainability in the semiconductor industry is understanding the power consumption
of semiconductors themselves — and trying to improve
that. Today, data centers represent approximately 1% of the
global electricity demand and account for about 0.3% of
global carbon emissions.
Aside from developing semiconductors that consume
less power, research shows that immersion cooling
with energy reuse could reduce carbon emissions by
45% compared to traditional data center usage. To this
end, Intel recently unveiled plans to invest more than
$700 million for a 200,000-square-foot, state-of-the art
research and development mega lab focused on innovative data center technologies and addressing areas such
as heating, cooling and water usage (see illustration).
Additionally, Intel introduced the technology industry’s
first open intellectual property (open IP) immersion
liquid cooling solution and reference design.
Complexity of collaboration
“The impact of climate change is an urgent global threat.
Protecting our planet demands immediate action and
fresh thinking about how the world operates,” said Pat
Gelsinger, Intel chief executive officer when making the
Intel announcement in April. “Intel is in a unique position
to make a difference not only in our own operations, but
in a way that makes it easier for customers, partners and
our whole value chain to take meaningful action too.”
Taking such meaningful action is certain to be a hot
topic at SEMICON West this week. The Sustainability
Summit is a great start, sure to inspire more collaboration. “I’ve seen the commitments that people have
made,” said Wilson. “Everybody is onboard and there
are real things happening. The challenge is to make
sure that there is coordination of what those real things
are to get an industrywide improvement. We’re not
quite there yet on that,” she said. “Let’s make sure we
pick the right things to do, and all work together and
collaborate to do that as an industry.”
Shortage to Surplus Cycle Hits
Semi but One Segment Escapes
One major part of the semiconductor industry is escaping
the downward trend felt by the larger market. But this time,
it’s different.
JOHN BLYLER, C o n t r i b u t i n g E d i t o r
The semiconductor bulls are getting
nervous. Six months ago, they
ruled the market, and now, that’s
changed thanks to ongoing supply
chain issues, dwindling demand,
and geopolitical clashes. Recently,
there have been indications that
the semiconductor space is shifting
www.semiconductordigest.com
downward due to growing inventory
stockpiles and canceled orders at the
major fabs. Veterans in this market
stifle a yawn at such revelations,
chalking it up to the cyclical nature
of the business. Shortages are real
and painful until they become surpluses — which has been the pattern
Charles Shi
Tuesday, July 12 | 11
