Intel

Sector: Corporate

Employees:

>over 79,700 employees worldwide

Carbon Footprint:

> 12,073,000 metric tonnes CO₂e (2005)

TARGETS

> Commitment through the World Semiconductor Council to reduce PFC emissions to 10% below 1995 levels by 2010
> Reduce energy consumed per unit of production by 4% per year from 2002 – 2010
> Strive to further reduce PFC emissions
> Improve energy efficiency of factory tools
> Explore new opportunities for use of clean energy sources and renewables
> Support development of strong standard for carbon offset projects

Achievements

> 35% reduction in perfluorocompound (PFC) emissions between 2001 and 2003
> Total worldwide energy use remained flat from 2002 to 2003, while energy use normalised to production decreased 12%
> Purchasing 14 million kWh (annually) of Portland General Electric (PGE) Clean Wind Power
> Received Clean Air Excellence Award from U.S. EPA for instantly available PC (IAPC) technology

Benefits

> Energy conservation projects have resulted in annual costs savings of more than $10 million
> Between 2002 and 2010 the use of Intel’s Instantly Available PC technology will avoid 159 million tones of CO₂ emissions (the equivalent of taking 5 million cars off the road)

Low Carbon Solutions

Background

Intel Corporation was founded in 1968 and only three years later introduced the world’s first microprocessor. Today, Intel is the world’s largest chip maker and leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Intel has over 79,700 employees worldwide with manufacturing facilities in the United States, Costa Rica, Ireland, Israel, China, Malaysia, and the Philippines. In 2003 the company’s revenues exceeded US $30 billion.

Though Intel is not currently participating in any greenhouse gas registries or emissions trading programs, the company is preparing itself for the long term impacts of the emerging carbon market on its global operations. The company’s manufacturing operations in Ireland are working to comply with the caps established under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). ‘It will not be very difficult for Intel to meet the current emission caps in Ireland,’ says Staff Environmental Engineer Tim Higgs. ‘However, they are likely to become more stringent over time and will be the primary drivers of action within the company.’

With a long term view to participating in the carbon offset market Intel is a member of the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA) a group that is developing standards that evaluate and score the climate, community and biodiversity impacts of land-based offset projects.

To address its internal emissions Intel has spent $2-3 million per year to implement energy conservation projects at their facilities, resulting in annual energy cost savings of $10 million. Based on the success of these initiatives, in 2003 the company set its first internal goal with regard to energy efficiency, committing to reduce energy consumed per unit of production by 4% per year from 2002 – 2010.

Energy efficiency projects are funded from a worldwide budget specifically set aside for these initiatives. A team, including representatives from Worldwide EH&S, the Global Utilities Department, and partners in the factories, develop a list of projects to be funded on an annual basis. ‘In terms of increasing energy efficiency the biggest challenge is cost related,’ says Higgs. ‘It is important to retrofit with new clean and efficient technologies. However, they need to be cost competitive in order for funding to be allocated by senior management.’

Thus far the majority of Intel’s energy efficiency projects have focused on facility side improvements, for example improving efficiency of systems that maintain building temperature.

In 1999, along with the other members of the World Semiconductor Council (WSC), Intel set a goal of reducing its perfluorocompound (PFC) emissions to 10% below 1995 levels by 2010. As explained by Tim Higgs, Staff Environmental Engineer, Worldwide Environmental Health and Safety Department, ‘Intel’s PFC program emerged from the company’s growing recognition that PFCs have long atmospheric lifetimes, tens of thousands of years in many cases, and that they were also potent global warming gases. It became a matter of corporate responsibility for companies like Intel to acknowledge that they had to reduce the production of these gases.’

The semiconductor industry is working together, through associations like the WSC, to develop substitutes for PFCs, however these chemicals have unique properties and have been difficult to replace. Intel and other semiconductor manufacturers strongly believe that voluntary commitments are the preferred means to achieve the desired improvements.

To meet the goal set in the agreement with the WSC, while accounting for the projected growth of the company, Intel will have to reduce its PFC emissions by more than 90% per silicon wafer. In order to achieve these reductions the company is designing environmental improvements into the manufacturing process for the latest generation of computer chips by using a combination of chemical substitution, process optimization and abatement. Higgs explains, ‘we substitute with either non-PFC materials, PFCs that have lower global warming potentials, or that are more fully consumed in the process.’

In addition to reducing its PFC emissions, Intel has also made major contributions to reducing end-user emissions through improving the energy efficiency of its products. The company helped to develop the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Energy Star program for computers, and in 1993 Intel demonstrated the first Energy Star compliant personal computer (PC). The company strongly believes that their products play an important role in involving the consuming public in tackling climate change.

The Intel innovation that has had the greatest impact on the efficiency of personal computers has been the Instantly Available PC (IAPC) technology which allows PCs to run more efficiently while reducing their energy use by up to 71%. The IAPC technology has a ‘sleep state’ of less than 5 watts which allows the PC to remain connected and perform tasks over a network or the Internet. The US EPA estimates that between 2002 and 2010 the use of the IAPC technology will avoid 159 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions (the equivalent of taking 5 million cars off the road).

Other technologies that help to reduce end-user emissions include Intel’s SpeedStep Technology which allows the processor to step down to a lower voltage and frequency as work load drops, thereby conserving battery power, and the 1W Motherboard which enables the desktop to consume less than 1 watt in its lowest power mode. Intel has also been recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Energy for its continued research on the internal power supplies used in PCs. This work completed in conjunction with the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC), has included changes to Intel’s design guidelines to encourage the development and adoption of more energy efficient power supplies. If implemented in the US alone the company’s recommended targets would result in reduced carbon emissions of over 10 million tons of CO₂ annually, and cost savings to the end-user of $1.25 billion.

Intel’s first initiative to limit its greenhouse gas emissions came in 1999 when along with the other members of the World Semiconductor Council (WSC) it set a goal of reducing its perfluorocompound (PFC) emissions to 10% below 1995 levels by 2010. As explained by Tim Higgs, Staff Environmental Engineer, Worldwide Environmental Health and Safety Department, ‘Intel’s PFC program emerged from the company’s growing recognition that PFCs have long atmospheric lifetimes, tens of thousands of years in many cases, and that they were also potent global warming gases. It became a matter of corporate responsibility for companies like Intel to acknowledge that they had to reduce the production of these gases.’

The semiconductor industry is working together to develop substitutes for PFCs, however these chemicals have unique properties and have been difficult to replace. For this reason Intel and the rest of the semiconductor industry are working very hard on substitutes and reduction alternatives for PFC uses. Intel and other semiconductor manufacturers strongly believe that voluntary commitments are the preferred means to achieve the desired improvements.

To meet the goal set in the agreement with the WSC, while accounting for the projected growth of the company, Intel will have to reduce its PFC emissions by more than 90% per silicon wafer. In order to achieve these reductions the company is designing environmental improvements into the manufacturing process for the latest generation of computer chips by using a combination of chemical substitution, process optimisation and abatement. Higgs explains, ‘we substitute with either non-PFC materials, PFCs that have lower global warming potentials, or that are more fully consumed in the process.’

Intel has begun working with their suppliers to reduce the energy requirements for manufacturing tools. The company monitors the energy usage per quantity of chips manufactured in order to track the progress toward existing goals and set goals for equipment suppliers.

To address its internal emissions Intel has spent $2-3 million per year to implement energy conservation projects at their facilities, resulting in annual energy cost savings of $10 million

Intel is the world\’s largest chip maker and leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products