Climate Change Countermeasures
A large amount of energy is constantly used for air conditioning management, operation of manufacturing equipment and producing testing in the manufacturing processes of semiconductor products and HDD products. PFC (perfluoro compound) gas is used in the etching process of semiconductor manufacturing, and CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) refrigerants such as HFC (hydrofluorocarbon) are used in cooling equipment such as air conditioning systems. Some of these gases also lead to climate change that is thousands of times more severe than CO2.
Our corporate group has therefore launched a project that crosses over corporate organizations in 2004, to reduce greenhouse gases with emphasis on “efficient manufacturing”. We consider facilities with greater energy saving effects and refrigerant equipment with low greenhouse effects when upgrading facilities. At present, a large amount of energy is consumed to operate clean rooms and there are a large number of similar facilities in each process. An understanding and awareness of the process will lead to a significant reduction in the use of energy and gas.
Example (CO2 reduction measure): Reduction of steam loss by decentralized installation of boilers
Japan Semiconductor Corporation Oita Operations
At the Oita Operations, steam was supplied to the entire area from a single water pipe boiler, and the steam transfer piping between buildings was long, resulting in heat dissipation loss. By installing highly efficient small once-through boilers in a decentralized manner, the transfer was abolished, leading to a reduction in city gas consumption and improvement in energy loss.
Amount of CO2 reduction: 857t-CO2/year