Taiwanese reassurances that water shortages won’t hit chipmaking show climate change’s direct threat to tech
Taiwan’s water troubles and their ability to seriously affect the semiconductor market aren’t brand-new. By 2016, TSMC had actually already worked to improve its water filtration and recycling efforts– needed for a market that consumes between 2-9 million gallons of water per day. As Moore’s Law drives down the size and increases the need for even more accuracy and fewer pollutants in the production procedure, water usage at fabs is going up.
“Taiwan’s water scarcity and its impact on semis is a wake up call for every innovation investor, every founder and the whole venture ecosystem. Taiwan’s water troubles and their ability to severely impact the semiconductor market aren’t new. By 2016, TSMC had actually already worked to enhance its water purification and recycling efforts– necessary for a market that consumes between 2-9 million gallons of water per day. (Intel alone utilized 9 billion gallons of water in 2015). As Moore’s Law drives down the size and increases the need for even more precision and fewer pollutants in the production procedure, water use at fabs is going up.