Intel drives semiconductor industry collaboration to accelerate toward a sustainable future

Semiconductors play an important role in the development of the world. When we discuss the ever-evolving innovative technologies, we must also recognize the importance of sustainable development to the semiconductor industry. At the same time, net zero emissions and green chemistry research are now at a critical juncture, which places higher demands on more collaboration and standardized operations in the semiconductor value chain.

As a global leader in the semiconductor industry and computing innovation, Intel is actively promoting the entire semiconductor value chain to move forward in a sustainable collaborative direction, and has made good progress. In order to further advance the goal of achieving net zero upstream greenhouse gas emissions in Scope 3 across the entire value chain by 2050, Intel is still exploring.

Last week, Intel, Siemens, Cisco and other sponsors including Micron, Accenture and Air Liquide convened more than 140 organizations, including business, academia, government, NGOs, alliances, etc., for the first Intel Global Sustainability Conference. The conference aims to unite the industry in efforts to reduce our impact on the environment, including developing a roadmap to net zero emissions, standardizing carbon footprint assessment methods and switching to sustainable chemicals.

Developing a net zero emissions target roadmap is of great significance in guiding companies to gradually achieve net zero emissions in their operations. According to public reports, about 40% of companies have made commitments to achieve net zero emissions, but only 15% of companies have announced climate transformation action plans. Achieving net zero emissions requires the participation of every company in the value chain. At this conference, all participants jointly developed a plan to promote the sustainable development of the industry. At the same time, the on-site survey showed that 90% of the respondents promised to develop a net zero emissions target roadmap for the entire industry by 2025.

There is a saying that "if you can't measure it, you can't improve it." If you can't assess your carbon footprint, you can't reduce it, so improving data transparency and adopting consistent measurement methods are key steps. To promote further coordination of scope 1, scope 2, and scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions in the global value chain, Intel supports the adoption of the Product Carbon Footprint Impact Algorithm (PAIA), which was jointly launched by 18 companies including Intel to simplify the methods and calculations for assessing product carbon footprints. Intel also supports the industry's joint efforts to promote public reporting of greenhouse gas emissions through the CDP organization to align it with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol). In addition, Intel encourages participants to deepen cooperation, such as in-depth participation in the Responsible Business Alliance, the Semiconductor Industry Association Greenhouse Gas Working Group, the Semiconductor Climate Alliance Working Group, the Energy Partnership, and Schneider Electric's Decarbonization Catalyst Program, which aims to accelerate the acquisition of renewable energy in the global semiconductor value chain. Sustainable development requires industry concerted efforts, and cooperation based on common standards is essential. It is gratifying that all participating companies in this conference have participated in or expressed interest in cooperation.

Finding alternatives to the chemical products that the industry has long used for more than 40 years has been a difficult task, but it is critical to reducing emissions and ensuring resource resilience. Although some progress has been made, Intel continues to urge the industry and suppliers to accelerate the replacement of remaining per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) by developing a roadmap, participating in industry alliances, and investing in relevant research to promote sustainable chemistry and improve the efficiency of natural resource use.

In addition to sustainable chemistry, waste treatment and disposal also play an important role in the efficiency of natural resource use. By recycling or upgrading waste, Intel has simultaneously reduced the amount of waste materials and the amount of raw materials required. Taking Intel's Chengdu factory as an example, it reused 978 computers, servers and other electronic equipment in 2022, reducing the negative impact of electronic waste on the environment, achieving zero landfill of hazardous waste, and a 99% recycling rate for harmless waste. At the same time, it continues to promote sustainable innovation in transportation services and product packaging, supports the development of the circular economy with green packaging and green logistics, and deeply practices sustainable development in production and non-production links.

In Intel's view, integrating sustainable development into all aspects of the business with strong execution is one of the cornerstones of making tangible progress in sustainable development. In addition to practicing the concept of sustainable development in various factories around the world, including Intel's Chengdu factory, Intel is also committed to improving product energy efficiency and helping customers achieve sustainable development goals, such as continuously improving the energy efficiency of products such as Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors and Intel® Core™ Processors to reduce carbon footprint. At the same time, the goal is to "increase the product energy efficiency of client and server microprocessors by 10 times in terms of product energy efficiency, thereby reducing scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions and reducing the carbon footprint of system reference designs by 30% by 2030."

In order to accelerate the realization of more sustainable computing, it is necessary to cooperate deeply with all partners in emission reduction, and drive the industry to implement sustainable development through measures such as establishing industry alliances and promoting the formulation of green standards. For example, in April 2023, Intel and its Chinese partners jointly established the Green Computer Standards Working Group to create green standards and promote the implementation of standards to accelerate the response to the low-carbon future of the computer industry. In 2022, Intel also joined hands with 20 ICT industry partners including Alibaba Cloud, Baidu Smart Cloud, Tencent Cloud, China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom to establish the Green Data Center Technology Innovation Forum to help the industry communicate and cooperate in a more convenient way to jointly reduce the carbon footprint of data centers. In addition to these cases, Intel remains active in various industries and continues to expand its cooperation with other parties.

As Intel Executive Vice President, Chief Global Operating Officer and General Manager of Manufacturing and Supply Chain Keyva Esfarjani said: "Intel is committed to achieving 100% renewable electricity, 100% effective use of water resources, zero landfill waste and net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. These goals may seem bold, but we have already done a lot of practice to give ourselves and the industry a good start. I firmly believe that as long as we work together, we will be able to achieve our commitments and benefit everyone on the planet."