The high temperature in parts of the Seattle area last weekend was 89 degrees. That must mean two things:
- It’s summer
- It’s time to finalize plans for SEMICON West 2025 in July
Wrong on both counts.
It’s the first half of June and still technically spring even though the weather here feels like August.
SEMICON West would normally be just over a month away, but this is not a normal year.
In case you didn’t get the memo, the conference has moved to Phoenix and happens in October instead of July. The hope is that the weather won’t be beastly hot, but there are no guarantees.
While we cannot change the weather in Phoenix this fall, we can make plans for SEMICON West and consider how our industry is responding to the need for climate resilience. Here’s some of what’s on tap at SEMICON West related to sustainability.
Reporting and Accountability
If you’re confused about sustainability reporting requirements, you’re not alone. The rules keep changing. It’s wise to gather data that will both help improve your operations and make you prepared in case more stringent reporting requirements appear. Keeping both goals in mind ensures that you don’t waste time or money collecting data that won’t do your company any good.
The session “Sustainability Reporting: Carrots and Sticks” is an opportunity to learn more and get a better sense of how to mitigate risk.
Measuring Greenhouse Gas Emissions
A key part of reporting involves tracking your company’s Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Most people know what those are by now, but if you need a refresher, see my first Sustainability 101 blog post from 2021.
There’s a session at SEMICON West on “Carbon Credits and Climate Accounting.” Carbon credits are controversial, especially if companies don’t screen credits thoroughly or overuse credits as an excuse not to curb their generated emissions. As I’ve written previously, buying credits doesn’t magically make your emissions disappear. I hope the session will promote transparent accounting practices.
Becoming More Circular
An absolutely circular economy—one where existing resources circulate forever and manufacturing requires no new inputs—is impossible. Increasing circularity is especially challenging in the semiconductor industry given the vast number of specialized materials and chemicals required, but we need to try.
The session on “Resource Use and Circular Economy” introduces the Circular Semiconductors Research Network, a collaboration between SEMI and IMEC to accelerate new technologies designed to improve circularity.
Considering Communities
Climate resilience is about more than mitigating extreme heat by reducing activities that contribute to the growing frequency of natural disasters. We need to consider the impact on the communities where our facilities operate and the people who live and work there.
I’m glad to see there’s a session on “Climate and Social Impact.” There aren’t any details listed (as of this posts’ publication date), but hopefully, the session will offer suggestions on how to protect vulnerable communities.
Startups to the Rescue?
While longstanding industry leaders continue to push for greater climate action, they can’t do it alone. Sometimes, the materials or technologies they would need to reach their goals don’t yet exist, at least not at scale. That’s where innovative startups come in.
2025 marks the fourth year of SEMI’s Startups for Sustainable Semiconductors program. A record-breaking number of companies have applied and are waiting to hear whether they will advance to the final round. This year’s focus areas are:
- Sustainable Semiconductor Manufacturing, including work on energy reduction and tracking, new materials, and abatement processes
- Sustainable Data Centers, including thermal and power management
- GenAI for Sustainable Design, covering chip design, materials discovery, and simulations
The finalists will give live pitches at SEMICON West. I’m excited to learn about what these startups are creating.
Lots More to Learn
Other sessions on the EHS and Sustainability track cover critical topics where we need to keep improving. Those include water resilience, GHG abatement and replacement, low-carbon energy sources, energy efficiency, and upstream Scope 3 emissions.
It sounds like I ought to add a trip to Phoenix in October to my fall calendar. How about you? Will you be there?
