Unfortunately, the world’s growing dependence on semiconductors and their production processes have expanded the IC-making industry’s ecological footprint. IC technology enables everything from internet of things devices, machine learning, and cloud computing to cars, washing machines, and smartphones. Apple today announced that it has joined Sustainable Semiconductor Technologies and Systems (SSTS), a new research program launched by Belgium-based R&D organization Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (Imec), to reduce the environmental impact of “choices made at chip technology’s definition phase.” According to a press release, SSTS will use models and greenhouse gas footprint analyses to help the integrated circuit-making (IC) industry cut back on its ecological footprint as part of the global fight against climate change, resources depletion, and pollution.
