European project aims to cut semiconductor industry’s energy use by 10%

The three year Semiconductor Industry Leading towards Viable Energy Recovery (SILVER) project is targeted at developing innovative solutions to reduce the environmental impact of semiconductor manufacturing processes and mitigate the greenhouse effect. Francesca Illuzzi, senior manager, environment of Micron Semiconductor Italia and project coordinator, said: "Reducing the consumption of critical resources and, more generally, reducing the impact on the environment not only allows the industry to meet European policies of environment protection. It also demonstrates our commitment to environmental sustainability and our strong belief that it produces positive economical and social returns in the medium term." The project involves a number of semiconductor companies, equipment manufacturers, research centres and providers of fab information services and is being led by Micron Semiconductor Italia. It also involves ON semiconductor and STMicroelectronics with support being provided by the ENIAC Joint Undertaking (JU). Andreas Wild, executive Director of the ENIAC JU, said: "While microchips enable energy efficient solutions in all application areas, the semiconductor industry strives to improve its own impact on critical resources and on the environment. SILVER is an excellent example of innovation responding to societal challenges by collaborative research in technology within the ENIAC JU programme."