PC Gamer is supported by its audience. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more
By published
The company also aims to improve product efficiency by 10 times for its client and server chips by 2030.
Intel has strengthened its eco-friendly pledge today by announcing further reductions in its direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions leading up to 2040. By that time, the chipmaker says it’ll be entirely free of greenhouse gases from its global operation. It has also set a goal to achieve a five-fold increase in performance per watt for its upcoming «CPU-GPU», Falcon Shores.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger takes the lead on the announcement, noting that climate change is an «urgent global threat.» Couldn’t agree with you more, Pat. He also notes that Intel, as «one of the world’s leading semiconductor design and manufacturing companies» is in a «unique position» to make a difference throughout the semiconductor industry.
That’s heartening to hear, but actions speak louder than words. So what that actually means for Intel is that it is aiming to reduce its Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (purchased energy, heating, cooling) greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2040. In order to do that, it’s set some new interim milestones that must be met by 2030, which is when Intel has pledged itself to further sweeping eco-friendly action as a part of its RISE targets.
These new milestones for 2030 are:
What’s not included here are Scope 3 emissions, which includes all the other manufacturing and logistics steps, often carried out by other companies, that go into delivering the final Intel product. On that front, Intel has said it plans to partner with suppliers and customers to take «aggressive action to reduce overall emissions». The only firm promise it’s made in this department is to drive supply chain greenhouse gas emissions to at least 30% lower by 2030 than they would have been in absence of investment and action.
Sounds a little woolly, or at the very least tough to quantify, but I’m hopeful that will manifest into some genuine, serious change at the very least.
That couldn’t come sooner, as gaming CPUs and GPUs are getting pretty power-hungry with no real signs of slowing down as of yet.
For comparison’s sake, AMD has also set 2025/2030 environment goals of its own. These are to reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions from its operations by 50% from 2020 to 2030, and increase energy efficiency in its processors and accelerators by 30 times from 2020 to 2025. As for its supply chain, or Scope 3 emissions, AMD says it wants all of its manufacturing suppliers to have public emissions reduction goals by 2025, and 80% to source renewable energy by that time, too.
Ultimately, it is our job as consumers to hold these massive corporations accountable for their waste, emissions, and whether they hit these goals. Just as much as it’s our job to help do our part to reduce and recycle e-waste and our own impact on the environment, too.
Jacob earned his first byline writing for his own tech blog from his hometown in Wales in 2017. From there, he graduated to professionally breaking things as hardware writer at PCGamesN, where he would later win command of the kit cupboard as hardware editor. Nowadays, as senior hardware editor at PC Gamer, he spends his days reporting on the latest developments in the technology and gaming industry. When he’s not writing about GPUs and CPUs, however, you’ll find him trying to get as far away from the modern world as possible by wild camping.
Sign up to get the best content of the week, and great gaming deals, as picked by the editors.
Thank you for signing up to PC Gamer. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
PC Gamer is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.
© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.
