Fluorinated greenhouse gas and net-zero emissions from the electronics industry: the proof is in the pudding
The electronics industry has made remarkable progress over the past 25 years in reducing the emission intensity of long-lived volatile fluorinated compounds (FCs) that typically represent 80 to 90% of uncontrolled direct (scope 1) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during the manufacturing of semiconduc...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Carbon Management |
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17583004.2023.2179941 |
| _version_ | 1797678333481189376 |
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| author | Sébastien Raoux |
| author_facet | Sébastien Raoux |
| author_sort | Sébastien Raoux |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The electronics industry has made remarkable progress over the past 25 years in reducing the emission intensity of long-lived volatile fluorinated compounds (FCs) that typically represent 80 to 90% of uncontrolled direct (scope 1) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during the manufacturing of semiconductor, display, and photovoltaic devices. However, while Normalized Emission Rates (NERs) have decreased in terms of CO2-equivalent emissions per surface area of electronic devices produced, absolute FC emissions from the sector have continued to grow at a compound annual rate of 3.4% between 1995 and 2020. Despite these trends, industry has not, to date, renewed their sectoral commitments to strengthen global FC emission reduction goals for the 2020–2030 decade, and it is unlikely that recently announced net-zero emission objectives from a few leading companies can reverse upwards industry emission trends in the near-term. Meanwhile, the persisting gap between “top-down” atmospheric measurements-based FC emission estimates and “bottom-up” emissions estimates is increasingly concerning as recent studies suggest that the gap is likely due, in part, to an underestimation of FC emissions from the electronics sector. Thus, the accuracy of industry-average (Tier 2) emission factors is increasingly questionable. Considering that most FCs essentially permanently persist in the atmosphere on a human time scale, the electronics industry needs to reassert its collective leadership on climate action, increase its ambition to reduce absolute emissions, and ground net-zero commitments in science by embarking on a concerted effort to monitor, report, and verify their process and abatement emission factors. To this effect, this article provides practicable solutions to cross-check bottom-up and top-down emission factors at the facility level and suggests that further implementing cost-effective FC abatement technologies, possibly in conjunction with a sectoral cap-and-trade mechanism, can help achieve residual FC emission levels compatible with net-zero neutralization principles and the 1.5 °C objective of the Paris Agreement. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T22:58:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-087224b8e5d944a7afa89ccd5965c643 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1758-3004 1758-3012 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T22:58:12Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Carbon Management |
| spelling | doaj.art-087224b8e5d944a7afa89ccd5965c6432023-09-21T15:09:07ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCarbon Management1758-30041758-30122023-12-0114110.1080/17583004.2023.21799412179941Fluorinated greenhouse gas and net-zero emissions from the electronics industry: the proof is in the puddingSébastien Raoux0Freelance International ConsultantThe electronics industry has made remarkable progress over the past 25 years in reducing the emission intensity of long-lived volatile fluorinated compounds (FCs) that typically represent 80 to 90% of uncontrolled direct (scope 1) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during the manufacturing of semiconductor, display, and photovoltaic devices. However, while Normalized Emission Rates (NERs) have decreased in terms of CO2-equivalent emissions per surface area of electronic devices produced, absolute FC emissions from the sector have continued to grow at a compound annual rate of 3.4% between 1995 and 2020. Despite these trends, industry has not, to date, renewed their sectoral commitments to strengthen global FC emission reduction goals for the 2020–2030 decade, and it is unlikely that recently announced net-zero emission objectives from a few leading companies can reverse upwards industry emission trends in the near-term. Meanwhile, the persisting gap between “top-down” atmospheric measurements-based FC emission estimates and “bottom-up” emissions estimates is increasingly concerning as recent studies suggest that the gap is likely due, in part, to an underestimation of FC emissions from the electronics sector. Thus, the accuracy of industry-average (Tier 2) emission factors is increasingly questionable. Considering that most FCs essentially permanently persist in the atmosphere on a human time scale, the electronics industry needs to reassert its collective leadership on climate action, increase its ambition to reduce absolute emissions, and ground net-zero commitments in science by embarking on a concerted effort to monitor, report, and verify their process and abatement emission factors. To this effect, this article provides practicable solutions to cross-check bottom-up and top-down emission factors at the facility level and suggests that further implementing cost-effective FC abatement technologies, possibly in conjunction with a sectoral cap-and-trade mechanism, can help achieve residual FC emission levels compatible with net-zero neutralization principles and the 1.5 °C objective of the Paris Agreement.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17583004.2023.2179941climate changegreenhouse gas emissionsnet-zeroparis agreementcarbon tradingcarbon offsetsmonitoringreportingverificationmrvgreenhouse gas inventoriesabatementemissions control technologiesfluorinated compounds (fcs)f-gasespfcshfcssf6nf3electronics industrysemiconductorsdisplayphotovoltaic |
| spellingShingle | Sébastien Raoux Fluorinated greenhouse gas and net-zero emissions from the electronics industry: the proof is in the pudding Carbon Management climate change greenhouse gas emissions net-zero paris agreement carbon trading carbon offsets monitoring reporting verification mrv greenhouse gas inventories abatement emissions control technologies fluorinated compounds (fcs) f-gases pfcs hfcs sf6 nf3 electronics industry semiconductors display photovoltaic |
| title | Fluorinated greenhouse gas and net-zero emissions from the electronics industry: the proof is in the pudding |
| title_full | Fluorinated greenhouse gas and net-zero emissions from the electronics industry: the proof is in the pudding |
| title_fullStr | Fluorinated greenhouse gas and net-zero emissions from the electronics industry: the proof is in the pudding |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fluorinated greenhouse gas and net-zero emissions from the electronics industry: the proof is in the pudding |
| title_short | Fluorinated greenhouse gas and net-zero emissions from the electronics industry: the proof is in the pudding |
| title_sort | fluorinated greenhouse gas and net zero emissions from the electronics industry the proof is in the pudding |
| topic | climate change greenhouse gas emissions net-zero paris agreement carbon trading carbon offsets monitoring reporting verification mrv greenhouse gas inventories abatement emissions control technologies fluorinated compounds (fcs) f-gases pfcs hfcs sf6 nf3 electronics industry semiconductors display photovoltaic |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17583004.2023.2179941 |
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