I had a basic notion that the electronics industry was hurting the environment. Something about batteries containing toxic substances that contaminate landfills. And also something else about the increasing demands for the the elements coltan and cassiterite, both for which the Democratic Republic of Congo is fighting an atrocious civil war the West is willing to overlook. So, while I was researching environmental consequences of the electronics industries I came upon an extremely informative article titled Electronics Industry Changes the Climate with New Greenhouse Gas (www.sciam.com).
Ugh Oh...There's a New Contaminator on the Block!
Nitrogen triflouride (NF3) is a greenhouse gas that has 17,000 times the planet-warming capacity of carbon dioxide. Currently, this gas is used as a cleaning agent in both the semiconductor industry to clean the chambers in which silicon chips are made and in the manufacture of the thin-film solar cell used in flat panel LCD screens. Presently, it adds about 0.04 % of the global warming effect created by carbon dioxide, but the danger stands in the fact that as flat panel LCD televisions become standard, more gas will be utilized in their manufacture. “This gas is not regulated and electronics companies are not required to keep a record of how much the use or emit.”
In the past, the semiconductor industry NF3 (one of the first industries to use NF3 in the 1980s) estimated that during the cleaning process, only 2% of this gas escaped into the air. The first-ever measurements of nitrogen triflouride levels in the atmosphere were published recently in the journal Geographical Research Letters. The results: emissions are as high as 16%. Studies estimate the production of the gas is nearly doubling every year.
Some large companies like Toshiba, Samsung, and LG are trying to solve the problem by adopting alternatives to NF3 . They have installed systems that generate fluorine (by splitting hydrogen fluoride) at some of their LCD and semiconductor facilities. This process, with no direct global warming risks, requires less energy than breaking nitrogen triflouride. The downsides of this system are that it requires significant upfront costs that prevent smaller LCD manufacturers from adopting this method. Also, fluorine is a toxic and corrosive gas and accidental releases lead to a variety of harmful consequences.
NF3 needs to be closely monitored and its vital that electronics companies begin to report it manufacture and emissions. Carbon dioxide is not the only gas we need to worry about. The increasing demenad for the developement new technology comes with new environemtenal consequences WE need to be aware of.
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SOURCES:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=electronics-industry-contributes-new-greenhouse-gas
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1 comment:
good research
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