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Environmental Impact of the Ubiquitous Microchip

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the well-isn't-that-depressing dept.

TimWeigel writes "The Japan Times is reporting the results of a study by the United Nations University on the environmental impact of michrochip production. We've already seen the impact of disposal practices, but is the manufacturing more environmentally friendly? Turns out it ain't necessarily so - according to the study, producing and using a 32MB DRAM chip weighing 2 grams requires 32 kg of water, 1.6 kg of fossil fuels, 700 g of elemental gases, and 72 g of other chemicals, many of which are hazardous. I'm no environmentalist, but this looks like it might add up to more bad news when you consider that these things are cranked out by the millions each year." Update: 01/26 16:31 GMT by J : Yep, it's a dupe.

3 of 116 comments (clear)

  1. Repeat by Quixote · · Score: 0, Redundant
    from 3 days ago (posted then by Michael)

    Just FYI.

  2. This all seems very familiar by jgalun · · Score: 0, Redundant

    http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/01/2 3/168225&mode=flat&tid=126

  3. Are you kidding? by sean23007 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    There have been so many dupes in the past week I'm beginning to believe Taco is playing a joke on us. Every article he puts up has been done 3 days before... I could go on, but this has already been covered a dozen times in the last week.

    --

    Lack of eloquence does not denote lack of intelligence, though they often coincide.