Intel breaks ground on $20B Arizona plants as U.S. chip factory race heats up
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Re: Intel breaks ground on $20B Arizona plants as U.S. chip factory race heats up
#2Forgive my ignorance, but wouldn't you want to build a semiconductor fabrication factory somewhere cold?
Or is it because Arizona is dry?
(honest questions, I don't know what impacts the location of a fab)
Re: Intel breaks ground on $20B Arizona plants as U.S. chip factory race heats up
#3Forgive my ignorance, but wouldn't you want to build a semiconductor fabrication factory somewhere cold? Or is it because Arizona is dry? (honest questions, I don't know what impacts the location of a fab)
As I understand it, you want inexpensive power and water. Bonus points for environmental stability over absolute temperature.
Re: Intel breaks ground on $20B Arizona plants as U.S. chip factory race heats up
#4Forgive my ignorance, but wouldn't you want to build a semiconductor fabrication factory somewhere cold? Or is it because Arizona is dry? (honest questions, I don't know what impacts the location of a fab)
Why should it be cold? This is necessary for data centers but for factories probably it’s much better to have your own solar powered energy
Re: Intel breaks ground on $20B Arizona plants as U.S. chip factory race heats up
#5Doesn't chip making a lot of water, most of it in Arizona is fed by Lake Mead?
The same reservoir that is at 30% capacity, with acute water shortages and with 4 years of increased precipitation necessary for an adequate refill.
We are adding a chip making facility which needs a lot of water here?
This sounds like a recipe for disaster whenever there is a period of water stress which appears to be occurring in that region significantly more frequently.
The more I think about it, the more US infra/urban planning makes absolutely 0 sense to me. Seems to more closely follow tax breaks and tax income than necessarily smart resource allocation.
Re: Intel breaks ground on $20B Arizona plants as U.S. chip factory race heats up
#6Doesn't chip making a lot of water, most of it in Arizona is fed by Lake Mead? The same reservoir that is at 30% capacity, with acute water shortages and with 4 years of increased precipitation necessary for an adequate refill. We are adding a chip making facility which needs a lot of water here? This sounds like a recipe for disaster whenever there is a period of water stress which appears to be occurring in that re…
From what I understand they will try to recycle the water.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/04/why-intel-tsmc-are-building-...
Re: Intel breaks ground on $20B Arizona plants as U.S. chip factory race heats up
#7Doesn't chip making a lot of water, most of it in Arizona is fed by Lake Mead? The same reservoir that is at 30% capacity, with acute water shortages and with 4 years of increased precipitation necessary for an adequate refill. We are adding a chip making facility which needs a lot of water here? This sounds like a recipe for disaster whenever there is a period of water stress which appears to be occurring in that re…
Can they create a water pipeline from elsewhere? Crazy, but not that far out. Oil and gas is transported this way.
Re: Intel breaks ground on $20B Arizona plants as U.S. chip factory race heats up
#8Doesn't chip making a lot of water, most of it in Arizona is fed by Lake Mead? The same reservoir that is at 30% capacity, with acute water shortages and with 4 years of increased precipitation necessary for an adequate refill. We are adding a chip making facility which needs a lot of water here? This sounds like a recipe for disaster whenever there is a period of water stress which appears to be occurring in that re…
Arizona is famously good at water management. They require a 100 year plan and are basically completely non-dependent on the ever-shrinking Colorado River. If any state would have a plan for recycling and make sure this plan is done appropriately it’s AZ.
Re: Intel breaks ground on $20B Arizona plants as U.S. chip factory race heats up
#9Doesn't chip making a lot of water, most of it in Arizona is fed by Lake Mead? The same reservoir that is at 30% capacity, with acute water shortages and with 4 years of increased precipitation necessary for an adequate refill. We are adding a chip making facility which needs a lot of water here? This sounds like a recipe for disaster whenever there is a period of water stress which appears to be occurring in that re…
You are not wrong, but having access to people with right experience and companies that supply the products and services for chip manufacture chips is more important. Seismic stability is another benefit.
They have to spend more on recycling and cleaning the water than in other places. In 2020 Intel cleaned up and returned 95 percent of the freshwater it used in Arizona. They have their own water treatment plats and public-private partnerships for water purification that purify Intel’s wastewater back to drinking standard.
https://download.intel.com/newsroom/2021/manufacturing/Intel...
Re: Intel breaks ground on $20B Arizona plants as U.S. chip factory race heats up
#10Forgive my ignorance, but wouldn't you want to build a semiconductor fabrication factory somewhere cold? Or is it because Arizona is dry? (honest questions, I don't know what impacts the location of a fab)
Arizona is a place where, with enough investment (like the billions here) power can be extremely green and cheap, with solar. Needing a huge amount of air conditioning is not a problem when it coincides with the moment the sun is pouring huge amounts of energy into your solar array.