Emission Trends in Electronics Manufacturing

Reported emissions from the Electronics Manufacturing sector decreased from 7.0 million metric tons (MMT) CO2e in 2011 to 5.9 MMT CO2e in 2020, a decrease of 15.7 percent. Emissions decreased 25.7 percent from 2011 to 2013, due primarily to a large reduction in combustion emissions at one plant. Emissions increased after 2013, due in part to a rule revision that changed the emission factors used by facilities to estimate emissions, resulting in higher estimated emissions. The increasing complexity of semiconductor products (necessitating an increase in the use of fluorinated GHGs in the manufacturing process) may have also contributed to the increase in reported emissions between 2013 and 2014.

Reported emissions for 2014 through 2018 remained fairly stable, with emissions fluctuating by only 0.1 to 0.2 MMT CO2e per year. The lowest emissions reported during this period were reported in 2016 (6.2 MMT CO2e) and 2017 (6.1 MMT CO2e). The lower emissions during these years were due in part to a decrease in the number reporters, which dropped from a high of 59 in 2014 to 51 in 2017. In 2018, the reported emissions increased by 3.3 percent to a high of 6.3 MMT CO2e, while the number of facilities reporting decreased to 49.

Reported emissions in 2019 dropped by 6.3 percent to 5.9 MMT CO2e, the lowest reported emissions since the subpart I emission factors were updated in 2013. The decrease in emissions in 2019 is due in part to changes in manufacturing processes, decreases in gas consumption at some facilities, and increased use of abatement. Emissions then remained stable from 2019 to 2020.

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