microchip
:: environmental
impact
Microchips may be small, but their impact on our world has been huge. And this impact goes
beyond the obvious effects of e-mail, cell phones and electronic organizers: A new study shows
that the 'environmental weight' of microchips far exceeds their small size. Scientists have estimated
that producing a single two-gram chip - the tiny wafer used for memory in personal computers
- requires at least 3.7 pounds of fossil fuel and chemical inputs.
"The public needs to be aware that the technology is not free; the environmental footprint
of the device is much more substantial than its small physical size would suggest," says
Eric Williams, Ph.D., of United Nations University in Tokyo, Japan. Williams is the lead author
of the paper and director of a project investigating the environmental implications of the Information
Technology revolution.
The results have crucial implications for the debate on dematerialization - the concept that
technological progress should lead to radical reductions in the amount of materials and energy
required to produce goods. The microchip is often seen as the prime example of dematerialization
because of its high value and small size, but the new findings suggest this might not be the
case. >from *The
three-and-a-half pound microchip: Environmental implications of the IT revolution* november
5, 2002
related context
> e-waste: cyber-age nightmare.
march 5, 2002
|
