Chip manufacturing is the primary source of the carbon footprint generated by electronic devices. To address this, German chip giant Infineon plans to calculate the carbon footprint of all its products and present it using the "product carbon footprint" (PCF) metric. This initiative aims to help customers' product designs align better with sustainability development goals.
Each component in an electronic device leaves a carbon footprint. However, according to a 2020 Harvard University research paper, the carbon footprint of electronic devices mostly comes from the chips' manufacturing process. It is higher than the carbon footprint generated by power consumption during actual use. Therefore, if one wants to control the carbon emissions of electronic devices, it's most effective to target the chip manufacturing process.
According to a report by Electronic Design, Infineon believes that the carbon footprint of chips encompasses the entire supply chain, from chip design and the acquisition of raw materials like precious metals to the actual manufacturing of chips and shipment to customers. Therefore, the PCF metric Infineon uses is calculated based on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions throughout this entire process and considers all three emission scopes (scope 1, 2, 3).
Infineon stated that by breaking down statistics to the component level, it can help customers more efficiently reduce carbon emissions across the entire supply chain. This is also in response to the increasing demand for greater transparency in carbon footprint data from consumers.
Infineon will prioritize calculating the PCF for products related to silicon, silicon carbide (SiC), and gallium nitride (GaN) power conversion technologies, as well as automotive microcontrollers (MCUs), before ultimately expanding to all of its products.
Infineon's PCF calculations for various products are as follows: the CoolSiC series SiC power MOSFETs have a CO2 equivalent of 87.5g, while the newly introduced OptiMOS automotive-grade silicon power MOSFETs stand at 3.5g. In contrast, advanced automotive MCUs surpass 400g. Typically, higher process node advancements correlate with increased power consumption per square millimeter of chip production.
Unfortunately, it should be noted that since there is currently no unified method for calculating chip carbon footprints, even if Infineon publishes the PCF data for all its products, it is difficult to compare them with products from other suppliers. It is clear that this issue still requires joint efforts from the entire industry to achieve data standardization.
Infineon aims to achieve carbon neutrality for its scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030. To reach this goal, the company plans to increase its allocation of green energy and reduce power consumption in its wafer fabs. Additionally, Infineon is investing in new technologies, including measures to prevent gas leaks and develop recyclable circuit boards. These efforts aim to eliminate high-pollution disposal methods like direct landfill or incineration.
