This article is part of our special report Chips Act unveiled: The (real) cost of making semiconductors.
The dire environmental cost of semiconductor manufacturing, which is getting more problematic with every new generation of microchips, has been largely overlooked in the European Commission’s semiconductor package.
The Chips Act, presented earlier this month, is part of an overall effort towards digital sovereignty, as the Commission strives to make Europe an independent technological power. Nevertheless, the proposal failed to address how this initiative will reconcile with the EU’s other top priority, the green transition.
“Digital technologies, both when manufactured and used, have their own environmental footprint, including from the release of fluorinated greenhouse gases during manufacturing to their significant energy consumption for their production and during their use,” the Chips Act reads.
The dire environmental cost of semiconductor manufacturing, which is getting more problematic with every new generation of microchips, has been largely overlooked in the European Commission’s semiconductor package.
The Chips Act, presented earlier this month, is part of an overall effort towards digital sovereignty, as the Commission strives to make Europe an independent technological power. Nevertheless, the proposal failed to address how this initiative will reconcile with the EU’s other top priority, the green transition.
“Digital technologies, both when manufactured and used, have their own environmental footprint, including from the release of fluorinated greenhouse gases during manufacturing to their significant energy consumption for their production and during their use,” the Chips Act reads.