[Chipformation] Intel, the CPU Champion Declaring 'Net Zero'

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Yeju] Intel is the first global semiconductor company to declare achieving 'Net Zero (carbon emission zero).' The semiconductor sector is a representative high carbon-emission industry, and unlike other sectors, it is rare to find companies declaring carbon neutrality or net zero emissions. This is why the market is paying attention to Intel's net zero declaration.

Intel is the largest multinational comprehensive semiconductor company in the United States and the strongest player in the central processing unit (CPU) field. It produces a wide range of products related to computers, including chipsets, LAN products, embedded product lines, servers, and solid-state drives (SSD), and develops libraries and compilers for numerical analysis and data processing. Although Intel is generally thought to produce only non-memory semiconductors, it was also the first company in the world to mass-produce a NOR flash memory model.

Last year, Intel's revenue was $79 billion (approximately 101.7757 trillion KRW). In terms of revenue, it is 1.39 times higher than Taiwan's TSMC's annual revenue of $56.8 billion (approximately 73.1754 trillion KRW), but Intel's carbon emissions are only 53.5% of TSMC's. This shows that Intel is not only a 'semiconductor powerhouse' but also maintains a leading position in 'sustainable growth.'

Having achieved 80% renewable energy conversion last year, Intel aims to achieve net zero carbon emissions at all its global operations by 2040. Specifically, it plans to reduce net emissions of Scope 1 (direct emissions) and Scope 2 (indirect emissions) to zero by 2040. Intel's strategy prioritizes reducing absolute carbon emissions, and for any remaining emissions, it plans to utilize 'carbon offset programs' such as purchasing carbon credits.

As an intermediate step to achieve the final goal, Intel has also prepared a detailed action plan through 2030. This includes ▲using 100% renewable energy at all global operations ▲investing approximately $300 million (about 370 billion KRW) to save a cumulative 4 billion kWh of energy ▲constructing factories and facilities that meet the standards of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) LEED program.

Based on net zero, Intel plans to bring its customers such as Apple and Qualcomm along. In particular, after declaring its entry into the foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) market last year, Intel has shown confidence in regaining leadership, forming a three-strong structure with Samsung Electronics and TSMC.

Intel has set a strategy to first surpass Samsung Electronics, the industry's second-largest, based on the Biden administration's full support for reviving domestic manufacturing. If Samsung and TSMC are 'leading companies in front-end processes' that excel at making chips on wafers, Intel plans to become a 'leading company in back-end processes' that effectively cuts and assembles these chips to meet better specifications than Samsung and TSMC. Currently, Intel is preparing for 4-nanometer (nm, one billionth of a meter) mass production, and it is expected to start producing 3-nanometer semiconductors in the second half of next year.