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UNU Update | |
The newsletter of United Nations
University and its network of research and training centres and programmes |
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Issue 23: February 2003 |
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Microchip has macro impact on Microchips have a macro impact on the environment, according to a new study by the IT and Environment Initiative of the UN University Environment and Sustainable Development Programme. The study, entitled The 1.7 kg microchip: energy and materials use in the production of semiconductor
devices, was published in the December 15, 2002 issue of the American Chemical Society journal
Environmental Science and
Technology. The study concludes that not only are the environmental impacts of making a chip much larger than its small size suggests but chips are much more input intensive that traditional products. The ratio of production inputs to the final product is about 630 for a memory chip compared with only about 2 for an automobile or 4-5 for an aluminum can. Industry, government and the public should work to minimize environmental impacts and maximize the benefits of computers, the report recommends. The results of the study have been extensively covered by the scientific, business and popular media, including BBC, Nature, Scientific American, Financial Times, Business Week, Science News as well as a number of national and regional newspapers around the world. |
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