Department of Energy Announces Pledges from 21 Organizations to Increase the Energy Efficiency of Semiconductors and Bolster American Manufacturing
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced a commitment from over 21 companies and organizations to increase the energy efficiency of semiconductors by a factor of 1,000 over the next two decades. The Energy Efficiency Scaling for 2 Decades (EES2) national initiative aims to get the semiconductor industry back on the path of doubling energy efficiency every two years to increase the economic competitiveness of American semiconductor manufacturers and strengthen domestic clean energy supply chains. This initiative builds on the Biden Administration’s commitment to spur domestic semiconductor manufacturing through the historic CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 which includes $54 billion in funding for the U.S. semiconductor industry and $67 billion for the Department of Energy.
From air conditioners to smartphones, semiconductors are important for key products that are used by millions of Americans every day. None of our nation’s critical infrastructure—from defense and transportation to finance, communications, and healthcare—can function without semiconductors. Since 2010, however, overall semiconductor energy use has doubled every three years, and by 2030, if this rate of increase continues, semiconductors could consume nearly 20% of planetary energy production. Our increasing reliance on semiconductors and their increasing energy footprint means focused innovation in semiconductor energy efficiency is essential to help grow the economy and tackle the climate crisis.
“Public-private collaborations are critical to reaching President Biden’s goal of a net-zero emissions economy by 2050 and ensuring an equitable and just clean energy future for all Americans,” said Alejandro Moreno, Acting Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “DOE is excited to work closely with industry to build the next generation of energy efficient semiconductors right here at home, bolstering domestic manufacturing and creating good-paying jobs for American workers.”
Inaugural signing partners of the EES2 initiative pledge include Intel, Microsoft, Micron, Synopsys, and AMD, in addition to the Semiconductor Research Corporation, Argonne National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories.
The EES2 pledge includes support for a 20-year effort, initially led by DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO), to create a Semiconductor EES2 Roadmap that will provide concrete metrics and recommendations to guide RDD&D of the U.S semiconductor industry to increase energy efficiency and position the United States as a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing and innovation. This roadmap will build on the recommendations in DOE’s deep-dive assessment on America’s semiconductor supply chain that was released earlier this year and will also incorporate information gathered through a series of stakeholder workshops focused on semiconductor supply chains that AMO hosted in 2021 and 2022.
The Semiconductor Roadmap will be released in 2023. For more information, visit Advanced Manufacturing Office | Department of Energy.
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