According to UN University research:
So what are the environmental impacts of producing and using a 32-megabyte DRAM computer chip that weighs a mere 2 grams? The UNU team found that to make every one of the millions manufactured each year requires 32 kg of water, 1.6 kg of fossil fuels, 700 grams of elemental gases (mainly nitrogen), and 72 grams of chemicals (hundreds are used, including lethal arsine gas and corrosive hydrogen fluoride).
To make matters worse, Williams believes his findings are conservative. “We think the real numbers may be twice that.”
Secondary materials used in production [of microchips] total 630 times the mass of the final product. An automobile requires only about twice its weight in fossil fuels to produce.
There could be a better way…
[Japan Times]
