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Beyond the walls of semiconductor fabs: energy intensity of high-grade materials

Plepys, Andrius LU and Schischke, K (2004) International Congress and Exhibition on Electronics Goes Green 2004+ p.821-826
Abstract
The increasing semiconductor functionality relies on more complex integrated circuits with higher component densities. Miniaturisation and its implications on resource consumption in semiconductor facilities have been fairly well explored in a number of life cycle assessment (LCA) studies, which show that, in spite of the growing product complexity, resource intensities per product unit are gradually falling. However, increasingly advanced circuits demand high-purity materials, but the impacts of these trends on resource intensities in upstream manufacturing stages remain unknown. The growing use of high-grade materials may contribute to shifting the centre of manufacturing-related environmental impacts from circuit fabrication to raw... (More)
The increasing semiconductor functionality relies on more complex integrated circuits with higher component densities. Miniaturisation and its implications on resource consumption in semiconductor facilities have been fairly well explored in a number of life cycle assessment (LCA) studies, which show that, in spite of the growing product complexity, resource intensities per product unit are gradually falling. However, increasingly advanced circuits demand high-purity materials, but the impacts of these trends on resource intensities in upstream manufacturing stages remain unknown. The growing use of high-grade materials may contribute to shifting the centre of manufacturing-related environmental impacts from circuit fabrication to raw material production stages. Unfortunately, cannot be seen in the existing LCA studies, which due to the lack of data are not able to quantify upstream and provide an incomplete picture of semiconductor environmental aspects. The paper illustrates the problem discussing energy demands for manufacturing ultra-pure wet chemicals. The paper examines the feasibility of using material price as a proxy for production energy intensity and proposes a framework for collecting chemical manufacturing related energy data. The authors suggest that by mapping the patterns of chemical usage and focusing on high-grade materials consumed in large volumes it is possible to reduce data collection efforts and improve the existing energy estimates. (Less)
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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Electronics Goes Green 2004 (Plus): Driving Forces for Future Electronics, Proceedings
pages
821 - 826
publisher
Fraunhofer IRB Verlag
conference name
International Congress and Exhibition on Electronics Goes Green 2004+
conference location
Berlin, Germany
conference dates
2004-09-06 - 2004-09-08
external identifiers
  • wos:000232100200135
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
248d68fd-ac99-4e35-82bd-07a4ba7c5f67 (old id 1406391)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 10:06:40
date last changed
2018-11-21 20:56:48
@inproceedings{248d68fd-ac99-4e35-82bd-07a4ba7c5f67,
  abstract     = {{The increasing semiconductor functionality relies on more complex integrated circuits with higher component densities. Miniaturisation and its implications on resource consumption in semiconductor facilities have been fairly well explored in a number of life cycle assessment (LCA) studies, which show that, in spite of the growing product complexity, resource intensities per product unit are gradually falling. However, increasingly advanced circuits demand high-purity materials, but the impacts of these trends on resource intensities in upstream manufacturing stages remain unknown. The growing use of high-grade materials may contribute to shifting the centre of manufacturing-related environmental impacts from circuit fabrication to raw material production stages. Unfortunately, cannot be seen in the existing LCA studies, which due to the lack of data are not able to quantify upstream and provide an incomplete picture of semiconductor environmental aspects. The paper illustrates the problem discussing energy demands for manufacturing ultra-pure wet chemicals. The paper examines the feasibility of using material price as a proxy for production energy intensity and proposes a framework for collecting chemical manufacturing related energy data. The authors suggest that by mapping the patterns of chemical usage and focusing on high-grade materials consumed in large volumes it is possible to reduce data collection efforts and improve the existing energy estimates.}},
  author       = {{Plepys, Andrius and Schischke, K}},
  booktitle    = {{Electronics Goes Green 2004 (Plus): Driving Forces for Future Electronics, Proceedings}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{821--826}},
  publisher    = {{Fraunhofer IRB Verlag}},
  title        = {{Beyond the walls of semiconductor fabs: energy intensity of high-grade materials}},
  year         = {{2004}},
}