Environmental data and facts in the semiconductor manufacturing industry: An unexpected high water and energy consumption situation

Abstract

With the expansion of the semiconductor industry, determining the huge associated water and energy consumption and accomplishing sustainable development can be key issues for this industry. This study surveyed the sustainability reports of 28 semiconductor corporations and summarized their environmental stewardship information. Overall, the total water withdrawal in 2021 was 7.89 ​× ​108 ​m3, total energy consumption was 1.49 ​× ​1011 ​kWh, and total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were 7.15 ​× ​107 tons CO2 equivalent. The total Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions were 2.74 and 4.41 ​× ​107 ​t CO2 equivalent, respectively. Surface water intake, municipal water supply, groundwater withdrawal, third party supply, and external reclaimed water intake accounted for 47.0%, 35.3%, 8.5%, 5.8%, and 3.2% of total water use, respectively. Electricity, fossil fuel, renewable energy, and others accounted for 83.7%, 12.0%, 2.7%, and 1.7% of the total energy use. In 2021, average water use, energy consumption, and GHG emissions were calculated to be 8.22 ​L/cm2, 1.15 ​kWh/cm2, and 0.84 ​kg CO2 equivalent/cm2, respectively, based on announced data. Ultrapure water consumption was predicted to be 5.51 and 0.95 ​× ​108 ​m3 worldwide and for China, respectively. Effective sustainability strategies are supposed to be implemented to meet the considerable growth in water and energy consumption and GHG emissions for the semiconductor industry worldwide and in China.