Is that a chip on your shoulder

Welcome back to the Strawman, the daily climate newsletter that’s like a good substitute teacher - you learn something new, and you have fun along the way. It’s a double whammy baby.

Today we’re going East to take a look at chips. No, not potato chips (I see you eating in the back of the class) - we mean the ones inside all of our electricals. Far less tasty, but far more important for the journey to Net Zero. Or so we’re told.

Let’s get to it.

Inputs vs. outputs

We already know - energy is important. Its importance differs for different companies though.

We’ve spent a lot of time talking about oil and gas companies; for them, energy is an output. This isn’t the case for most companies though - when most other companies set targets for “going green”, they’re relying on energy as an input.

What this means? You can set the most ambitious targets possible, but if you can’t get access to clean energy those targets may as well be made of ice - they’re gonna melt away in this heat.

The chip war (for sustainability)

Among other things, the major chipmakers have decided a little friendly competition to see who can be the greenest, with targets for 100% renewable energy use ranging from 2030 (Intel) to 2050 (TSMC).

Now this paints TSMC in a bad light - compared to their Western counterparts, seems like they’re moving slowly right?

Turns out there’s more than meets the eye - 100% of their overseas operations are already powered by renewables.

So what’s the hold up?

There just isn’t enough green energy to go around in Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. Access to wind and solar energy is limited, and you can’t just buy and import energy from elsewhere without running into huge cost constraints.

With customers like Apple pushing for greener components from their suppliers (including TSMC), turns out that competing on how green you are might be a genuine way for companies to stand out.

Who woulda thought?

See ya tomorrow,

The Strawman