Unos días ya antes de la COP26, Apple se ha sumado a un nuevo programa de tecnología de chips con la meta de progresar su sostenibilidad medioambiental en el diseño de sus productos. Es una resolución que refleja lo que es, con suerte, una entendimiento cada vez mayor de que todas las compañías deben atenuar las consecuencias ambientales de sus actividades comerciales.</p><h2><strong>Una obsesión por el detalle</strong></h2><p>El programa Sustainable Semiconductor Technologies and Systems (SSTS) examinará en profundidad de qué forma se fabrican los procesadores futuros para asistir a reducir el impacto ambiental de la fabricación de estos chips. Es un enfoque centrado en los detalles que puede beneficiarse de los éxitos críticos que los diseñadores de productos de Apple en ocasiones pueden conseguir. El programa es creado por el Centro Interuniversitario de Microelectrónica y tiene como propósito "adelantar el impacto ambiental de las resoluciones tomadas a lo largo de la fase de definición de la tecnología de chips".
From design to manufacturing
The challenge isn't just ensuring that the chips themselves are designed with environmental consequences in mind: it's also about developing better manufacturing processes. Although it is no secret, processors are small, but they are becoming more and more. The number of devices that use processors is growing exponentially, which means that the consequences of their manufacture are significant. Processor manufacturing is characterized by high energy consumption and intensive use of chemicals, foreign materials and water. It also produces countless greenhouse gases.Where Apple fits
Apple's chipmaker TSMC uses nearly five percent of all Taiwan's power generation. It used 3 million tons of water in XNUMX and caused controversy during the current year's drought. It's not just Apple, of course: A single Intel plant in Arizona has produced more than XNUMX tonnes of hazardous waste in just XNUMX months this year, The Guardian reports. In fact, some claim that the manufacturing of the processors used in our devices accounts for the majority of carbon emissions from electronic devices, according to The Guardian, citing Harvard research. These powerful Apple M-series chips may have made Macs the crème de la crème of the computer industry, but their manufacture has consequences. We know Apple takes these things seriously, so it should come as no surprise that the company has joined SSTS. This reflects Apple's growing understanding that the environmental consequences of product manufacturing must be considered early in the design process. Hence, if my sources are accurate (which I think they are), Apple's environmentally focused teams now have a say in new product design. They explore how designs can ensure that raw materials can be separated, recycled and reused. They are also working to identify where the replacement of materials could reduce the ecological footprint. Decisions on the design and manufacture of new products are also online with the company's long-term hope of creating a circular manufacturing system that eliminates the need to consume more resources.
Towards a new ecological pact
Apple aims to be fully carbon neutral for XNUMX in its supply chain and products. It has persuaded XNUMX of its distributors to switch to renewable energy and continues to invest in projects and resources (such as managed forests and wind farms) to help achieve these goals. “All companies need to be a part of the fight against climate change and, along with our dealers and local communities, we are testing each and every chance and fairness that green innovation can bring,” Tim Cook recently said. , Apple CEO. “We act with an emergency and we act together. But time is not a renewable resource and we must act quickly to invest in a greener and more equitable future. The Apple leader understands that building this green new deal is an occasion. “Climate action can be the foundation of a new era of innovation potential, job creation and sustainable economic development. With our commitment to carbon neutrality, we hope to be a wave in the pond that will bring about much more change,” he said last year. Follow me on Twitter or join me at the AppleHolic bar & grill and Apple discussion groups on MeWe.<p>Copyright © dos mil veintiuno IDG Communications, Inc.</p>