There is renewed attention on the sustainability of semiconductors. Chorus has been building in recent years to improve the sustainability of chip manufacturing and usage. In 2022, COP27 saw the creation of a Semiconductor Climate Consortium with 60 founding members pledging to reduce emissions to 0% by 2050.
It is understandable why chips would be a target. They are ubiquitous and their number and usage will just keep increasing. Most stages of their complex supply chain–from the extraction of raw materials to transportation of finished goods to the processing, heating, and cooling required in production, to recycling–produce significant emissions.
