June 1, 2009

SEMICONDUCTORS: DRIVING FORCE BEHIND U.S. ENERGY EFFICIENCY GAINS

A new ACEEE study finds that semiconductor technologies are so essential to advances in energy efficiency gains that the U.S. economy could expand by more than 70 percent through 2030 and still use 11 percent less electricity than it did in 2008—and still save money!  Semiconductor Technologies: The Potential to Revolutionize U.S. Energy Productivity concludes that semiconductors already are the leading factor behind energy efficiency gains.  

The report states: “Compared to the technologies available in 1976, we estimate that the entire family of semiconductor-enabled technologies generated a net savings of about 775 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity in the year 2006 alone … [H]ad we expanded the size and scope of the U.S. economy based on 1976 technologies, it appears that the U.S. would be using about 20 percent more electricity than actually consumed in 2006. Stated differently, had we continued to rely on 1976 technologies to support the U.S. economy today, we might have had to build another 184 large electric power plants to satisfy the demand for goods and services.”

According to lead author John A. “Skip” Laitner, ACEEE Director of Economic and Social Analysis, “In many ways, the story of the gains in energy efficiency since the mid-1970s and, in particular, the mid-1990s, is the story of the rise of the semiconductor.   However, the powerful connection between semiconductors and energy consumption is more than just unappreciated; it is actually misunderstood by some. Despite the immediate growth in electricity demands to power the growing number of devices and technologies, semiconductors have enabled a surprisingly larger energy productivity benefit in that same period.”   

Brian Halla, Chairman, President and CEO, National Semiconductor commented on the ACEEE analysis: “For many years, it has been a commonly accepted view that future generations will have to lower their expectations and plan to live in a very different world —a world in which progress will be heavily constrained by energy issues. Fortunately, that pessimistic vision of our future need not come to pass. As the ACEEE study shows, we have the ability to continue to drive economic growth, protect and enhance our environment, and pass on a better world to future generations. Our industry—the semiconductor industry—is hard at work today to invent and produce solutions to the most critical energy issues.” 

Read the report's highlights as presented in the press release or download the report for free: Semiconductor Technologies: The Potential to Revolutionize U.S. Energy Productivity.

Back to ACEEE's Grapevine Online