Environmental impact of microchip manufacturing

ToshiroOC · Jan 24, 2003, 01:15 AM

If you think that your computer, being such a modern, hi-tech device, is -- or surely must be -- environmentally friendly, then think again.

Researchers at the United Nations University in Tokyo recently analyzed the material and energy inputs required to produce a 32-megabyte DRAM microchip, and what they discovered came as a shock. Their findings have attracted media attention worldwide.

In 1998, Eric Williams and his colleagues at the U.N. University began investigating the production chain of silicon, the chief material used in making microchips. Two years later their research expanded to explore the larger environmental footprint of information technology as a whole.

Last month, the first phase of results from their work appeared in Environmental Science & Technology, a journal of the American Chemical Society.

So what are the environmental impacts of producing and using a 32-megabyte DRAM computer chip that weighs a mere 2 grams? The UNU team found that to make every one of the millions manufactured each year requires 32 kg of water, 1.6 kg of fossil fuels, 700 grams of elemental gases (mainly nitrogen), and 72 grams of chemicals (hundreds are used, including lethal arsine gas and corrosive hydrogen fluoride).

To make matters worse, Williams believes his findings are conservative. "We think the real numbers may be twice that," he said, adding that rapid advances in technology aggravate the problem. "The fact that a chip has such a short lifespan, because the technology turns over so quickly, exacerbates the environmental impact."

Additionally, the UNU article highlights the contrast in terms of "environmental weight" between microchips and traditional goods, noting on one hand that "secondary materials used in production [of microchips] total 630 times the mass of the final product. Compared with this, the researchers state that an automobile requires only about twice its weight in fossil fuels to produce -- i.e. 1,500-3,000 kg.

--By Stephen Hesse, source: Japan Times Online

Article can be read here.

BWX · Jan 24, 2003, 08:45 AM

OMG, now that computers are worse than SUV's the government must double and triple tax them to make the computer industry shape up. Only to waste the money on whatever red tape that may come along. This is not good, it just means more tax and more money and more government regulation. Not good at all.

Jan 24, 2003, 01:15 AM	#1
ToshiroOC Unbiased. Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 4,812 Rep Power: 0	Environmental impact of microchip manufacturing If you think that your computer, being such a modern, hi-tech device, is -- or surely must be -- environmentally friendly, then think again. Researchers at the United Nations University in Tokyo recently analyzed the material and energy inputs required to produce a 32-megabyte DRAM microchip, and what they discovered came as a shock. Their findings have attracted media attention worldwide. In 1998, Eric Williams and his colleagues at the U.N. University began investigating the production chain of silicon, the chief material used in making microchips. Two years later their research expanded to explore the larger environmental footprint of information technology as a whole. Last month, the first phase of results from their work appeared in Environmental Science & Technology, a journal of the American Chemical Society. So what are the environmental impacts of producing and using a 32-megabyte DRAM computer chip that weighs a mere 2 grams? The UNU team found that to make every one of the millions manufactured each year requires 32 kg of water, 1.6 kg of fossil fuels, 700 grams of elemental gases (mainly nitrogen), and 72 grams of chemicals (hundreds are used, including lethal arsine gas and corrosive hydrogen fluoride). To make matters worse, Williams believes his findings are conservative. "We think the real numbers may be twice that," he said, adding that rapid advances in technology aggravate the problem. "The fact that a chip has such a short lifespan, because the technology turns over so quickly, exacerbates the environmental impact." Additionally, the UNU article highlights the contrast in terms of "environmental weight" between microchips and traditional goods, noting on one hand that "secondary materials used in production [of microchips] total 630 times the mass of the final product. Compared with this, the researchers state that an automobile requires only about twice its weight in fossil fuels to produce -- i.e. 1,500-3,000 kg. --By Stephen Hesse, source: Japan Times Online Article can be read here.

Jan 24, 2003, 08:45 AM	#2
BWX unplugged Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: USNY Posts: 19,669 Rep Power: 110 System Specs	OMG, now that computers are worse than SUV's the government must double and triple tax them to make the computer industry shape up. Only to waste the money on whatever red tape that may come along. This is not good, it just means more tax and more money and more government regulation. Not good at all. __________________