Intel Recognised For Green Power Usage

Chip-maker Intel has topped a poll of users of green power for the second year running according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.

A statement released this week by the EPA said that the chip-maker purchased more than 1 billion kilowatt hours of so-called green power every year – roughly enough to to meet about 47 percent of the company’s energy needs.

For the second year in a row, Intel, based in California, was the US’s largest single purchaser of renewable energy equivalent to that used by around 130,000 homes.

Commenting on the company’s placement at top of the renewable energy usage chart last year, Intel president and chief executive Paul Ottellini said that he hoped that Intel’s investment in wind renewable energy would encourage others to follow suit. “We have a long history of commitment to the environment and energy efficiency is an important consideration in everything we do, from building transistors to designing microprocessors and running our factories,” he said.

Intel, along with most major tech companies is keen to be seen as green and environmentally friendly. However, the chip production industry has been criticised for the energy intensive nature of its processes and its use of raw materials.

A 2002 study by the United Nations University in Tokyo reported that weight for weight, the average computer chip does more harm to the environment than a car.

“In order to produce one memory chip that weighs two grams, the total amount of materials and fossil fuels required to make that chip is 1,400 grams. That’s 700 times the weight of the original chip,” one of the reports authors Dr Eric Williams told the BBC.

Dell also featured on the EPA list in fourth place with around 553,708,000 kWhs of renewable energy purchased.

According to the EPA, green power is generated from renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, biogas, and low-impact hydropower.