Technology firm Texas Instruments' emissions normalized on a per-chip basis rose 23 percent year-on-year amid a host of other disappointing environmental figures, according to its 2011 corporate sustainability report.
TI attributes this to a number of facilities running under capacity - which the company says requires a similar amount of energy to fully loaded operations - and new facilities ramping up production. TI has a goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions per chip by 30 percent by 2015 against a 2010 baseline, the report says.
The firm's overall carbon footprint rose 18 percent between 2010 and 2011, from 1.96 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent to 2.32 MMTCO2e. The company attributes this rise primarily to the addition of several new facilities.
Looking forward, the company plans to close two of its oldest and potentially most emissions-intensive plants. The facilities in Houston and Hiji, Japan should be fully closed by mid-2013. TI also plans to integrate three facilities, gained in its acquisition of National Semiconductor, into its overall manufacturing process. This will allow the company to assess the facilities' emissions and deploy its existing greenhouse gas strategies at the plants.
In 2011, TI's energy use globally was 3,123 million kWh, which comprised around 64 percent of its carbon footprint, according to the report. Last year saw the company increase its energy use by 8 percent over 2010 levels, which were 2,902 million kWh. TI attributes this increase primarily to the continued ramp-up of two manufacturing facilities and an assembly and test site.
TI's energy use normalized on a per-chip basis increased 10.8 percent over 2010 levels. The company has a 2015 goal of reducing the energy required to produce a chip by 45 percent compared to 2010 levels. Despite last year's setback the company has improved this metric by 33 percent since 2005, and expects to see gains in 2012 with factories running at full capacity, the report says.
One area of energy success has come in the form of efficiency projects. In 2011, the company had a goal of implementing energy-savings projects that cut utility costs by $5 million. It exceeded this goal and saved $7.1 million through energy efficiency. Much of the savings came from TI's Aizu and Miho sites in Japan, following the March earthquake and subsequent nuclear reactor crisis. The facilities along with a host of other businesses voluntarily cut power usage in order to ensure ample power for local communities.
Purchased renewable energy accounted for 21 percent of the company's total energy purchases for the year. This figure includes 5 percent purchased renewable energy certificates and 16 percent renewable energy used on the grids supply TI's electricity. Most of the renewable energy in this grid power mix came from hydroelectric plants.
The company sources 10 percent of the electric power for its Texas sites from wind power. Sites in Texas account for 53 percent of its worldwide energy use, the report says.
TI's water use increased globally by 21 percent from 2010 to 2011, from 5.5 billion gallons to 6.3 billion gallons. This was due, the company says, to the addition of several new facilities (see chart, below).
The company's water use per chip increased by 25 percent - again, TI says, due to site running under capacity and new facilities starting up. The company has a goal of reducing both the normal water and "ultra-pure" water needed to make a chip by 45 percent by 2015 against a 2010 baseline. TI says when new facilities' water use is optimized it will get back on track to meet this goal.
Despite the increases in overall water use in 2011, water-efficiency projects conducted throughout TI saved about 467 million gallons of water and $1.5 million in 2011, the report says. Cooling towers at the company's Dallas site reused about 132 million gallons of water last year. Its Miho and Hiji sites in Japan adhere to a strict zero-impact, zero-industrial discharge policy. Most water at these plants is reused.
The company recycled 92 percent of its waste in 2011, missing its target for the year by 3 percentage points. However, both the total waste TI produced and its waste per chip figure plummeted year-on-year.
In 2010 the company produced 56.1 million kg of waste and generated .85 grams of waste per chip. Last year saw these figures drop 41 percent and 33 percent to 33.4 million kg of waste and .57 grams of waste per chip, the report says.
Click here for Environmental Leader's coverage of the company's 2008 and 2009 reports.
