CINNO Research industry information, according to the Japanese media newswitch Zhang Gu Kyoko reported that the decarbonization process of semiconductor equipment manufacturers is accelerating. In addition to improving the environmental performance of their products, companies are working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their operations. Apple, the world's largest semiconductor user, is encouraging its customers to use 100 percent renewable energy in their production processes. This Spillover Effect appears to be spreading throughout the manufacturing equipment industry.
Environmental performance has become the standard for evaluating customers
Hiroki Fukushima, vice minister of Electronics Production in Tokyo, revealed a change in attitude toward the semiconductor industry: "In the past, customers chose products based on quality and reliability, with the ability to produce better equipment. But from around 2019-2020, environmental performance has also been added."
In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the process of manufacturing semiconductors, it is necessary to reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing equipment. Vice Minister Fukushima said: "If you ignore this, you will not be able to gain a foothold in this industry."
Given this rising trend towards decarbonization, manufacturers of manufacturing equipment are committed not only to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from their commercial activities, but also to reducing the environmental impact of their equipment.
Tokyo Electronics' dust-free workshop
In June 2021, Tokyo Electronics launched an initiative "E-COMPASS" aimed at building a sustainable supply chain. Tokyo Electronics, along with about 1,000 suppliers, has launched programs to reduce its environmental impact. Specifically, Tokyo Electronics will reduce CO2 emissions from its procurement logistics by switching from trucks to rail transportation and reducing the use of packaging materials. In addition, we will provide equipment that does not contain harmful substances to the environment, and develop proactive equipment environmental protection technologies.
Tokyo Electronics aims to reduce co2 emissions per wafer produced by 30% compared to 2018 by 2030. It also plans to reduce total CO2 emissions by 70 percent by using renewable energy at each of its subsidiaries. However, Vice Minister Fukushima realized that "we must keep up with the growing environmental awareness." Therefore, Tokyo Electronics is also considering further raising its targets.
DISCO aims to achieve carbon neutrality (zero greenhouse gas emissions) throughout the supply chain, including products, by 2050. Disco's President, Ichima Seki, said: "In the past, most customers paid attention to cost issues, but in the future, environmental performance should also be included. Even if the price is slightly higher, equipment with advanced energy-saving features may be more valued."
Disco's Chikuno plant (Chino City, Nagano Prefecture) is expanding solar panels
In the company's own business activities, DISCO has set itself a goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030. In addition to halving the amount of electricity and water consumed per unit of production, the company's own power generation is being increased by expanding solar panels. In February this year, DISCO's solar power generation capacity will be doubled to about 3,200 kilowatts.
In April 2021, Advantest, a major manufacturer of semiconductor test equipment, switched all of its electricity consumption at its Gunma plant (Egakucho, Gunma Prefecture) to renewable energy generation. Gunma's plant uses about 12.8 million kWh of electricity per year, which is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by about 5,000 tons per year. The goal of the EdWin test is to increase the use of renewable energy to more than 70% by 2030 and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions generated by its business activities by 60% compared to 2018.
The spillover effect brought by Apple in the United States promotes "zero greenhouse gas emissions" throughout the supply chain
Behind these environmental measures by device manufacturers is the action promoted by semiconductor users such as Apple to involve the entire supply chain in environmental measures.
Apple, the world's largest semiconductor user, announced in July 2020 that it would make the entire supply chain, including the production and use of its products, "carbon neutral" by 2030. The number of suppliers who have committed to using renewable energy to supply Apple with products and materials has reached 175. Semiconductor manufacturers such as TSMC, the world's largest semiconductor foundry, have also agreed. TSMC plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions growth to zero by 2025. Intel in the United States will switch to 100% renewable energy by 2030.
Semiconductor manufacturers are taking steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions not only to meet the requirements of semiconductor customers, but also because of the increasing energy consumption of electricity and water used in semiconductor production processes.
Due to the popularity of fifth-generation communication 5G and the development of the Internet of Things (IoT), the semiconductor market is expected to continue to grow in the medium to long term, and technological innovations such as scaling and stacking are also developing significantly. But the application of more advanced manufacturing techniques tends to increase energy consumption, so reducing energy consumption is an urgent problem for semiconductor manufacturers. According to industry analysts, at the current growth rate, it is expected that 20% of the world's electricity will be consumed by semiconductor manufacturing.
In response to the growing sense of crisis among semiconductor manufacturers, Yoshiaki Yoshida of Edvan Test said: "How to balance economic benefits and sustainable development, it will be a painful process. We want to contribute to the protection of the global environment."
Semiconductors are now known as "the food of society and life" It can be said that environmental protection measures in the semiconductor supply chain are indispensable for achieving a sustainable society.
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