Recent Developments in Greenhouse Gas Emissions Measurement

Higgs, Tim
(Intel, Chandler, AZ)

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Recent regulatory developments in the U.S. have resulted in increased focus on emissions of greenhouse gases from semiconductor facilities. Subpart I of the Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule initially required semiconductor facilities to perform extensive emissions testing of a large number of different process recipes. An interim rule published in September 2011 removed this requirement and stated U.S. EPA’s intent to develop alternative methods for determining emissions of greenhouse gases from semiconductor manufacturing. As a result, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) and its member companies have been working with EPA to evaluate various alternatives. As part of this activity, Intel Corporation recently performed extensive monitoring for greenhouse gases and other pollutants from the scrubbed exhaust stacks of a 300mm fab in Chandler, AZ. The results of this testing are being used to understand variability over time in emissions of greenhouse gases and hazardous air pollutants, relationships between those emissions and chemical use and manufacturing rates, and the impact of control device parameters on emissions. This paper will present emissions data from several weeks of stack monitoring at a fab, discuss the methods used and evaluate how well emissions correlate with chemical use and manufacturing rates. It will also compare the results to previous estimates of greenhouse gases and HAPs from semiconductor facilities.

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