Bridging the Energy Gap: 3 Ways AMD Is Collaborating To Advance Renewables in the Supply Chain

On an international work trip to Taiwan last summer, I was gazing out my airplane window at the sun shining, wind blowing and waves crashing, amazed by how these natural forces generate enough renewable energy to power global electricity demands. Yet less than one-third of global annual electricity comes from renewable sources.ⁱ Turns out it’s complicated to harness and deliver electricity where and when it’s needed. This was a key mission of my AMD trip and our ongoing work with the SEMI Energy Collaborative: to accelerate renewable energy access and rapidly decarbonize the semiconductor industry.

At AMD, we believe leveraging the benefits of technology while mitigating climate impacts relies on a combination of increased renewable energy use and energy-efficient computing. AMD and the broader sector have made strong progress in the product use phase, particularly in the data center where most energy use and emissions tend to occur. While these efforts need to continue, particularly given the acceleration of AI, our industry has been working to address key challenges in the manufacturing stage. The combination of more energy-intensive manufacturing processes in regions with renewable energy shortages raises challenges that require increased collaboration and new approaches to meet supply-and-demand.

In honor of this year’s Earth Day theme, “Our Power, Our Planet,” I am highlighting three ways companies in the semiconductor industry can help unlock the supply and impact of renewable energy.

1. Adoption: Target “hotspots” where renewable energy is needed most

Data-informed energy and emissions assessments help identify hotspots across the value chain where more renewables could have an outsized impact to drive down total product emissions. This can be done at a product level by estimating product carbon footprints; at a corporate level by analyzing value chain emissions across Scopes 1, 2 and 3; or even at a sector level by aggregating industry data.

At AMD, we have more than tripled the amount of renewable energy sourced for our operations between 2020 and 2024 (from 36 to over 110 GWh) through onsite generation, utility green tariff programs and renewable energy credits, while currently evaluating power purchase agreements. However, we recognize that energy use and corresponding emissions in the AMD supply chain are much higher. BCG and CDP estimate that corporate supply chain emissions are on average 26 times higher than operational emissions.ⁱⁱ

Most of AMD supply chain energy use and emissions come from wafer foundries. TSMC has been a key partner for years, and AMD worked closely with TSMC as it increased its 2030 target for renewables from 40% to 60% of the total energy supply and pulled in its 100% renewable energy target from 2050 to 2040 ⁱⁱⁱ.

However, the amount of renewable energy available in Taiwan is very limited, with around 12% of the country’s electricity coming from renewables.^iv Considering that nearly 90% of the world’s most advanced chips come from Taiwan,^v this is a key challenge that requires new approaches and a collective effort.

2. Access: Join industry collaborations driving supply-and-demand solutions

In 2023, AMD became a founding member of the Semiconductor Climate Consortium (SCC) to drive sustainability and accelerate the industry's transition to a low-carbon future. The SCC conducted the first in-depth analysis of the semiconductor value chain’s carbon footprint and found 80% of the industry’s emissions stem from electricity use.^vi It also assessed where renewable energy demand far exceeded supply, revealing a handful of manufacturing regions that are central to the supply-and-demand conundrum. These insights led to the formation of the SEMI Energy Collaborative (EC), which AMD sponsored, to focus on understanding and removing obstacles to the installation of renewable energy in specific Asia-Pacific regions.

By collectively engaging on solutions to the policy, markets, technology and infrastructure challenges, the EC aims to broaden access to renewables within the next five to ten years. For example, the SCC has worked to lower geographic barriers for international companies to participate in building new renewable energy projects, which promotes increased competition and lower costs. On the demand side, the SCC is combining the renewable sourcing needs from various companies and using the larger scale to entice developers and investors to the business opportunity.

These strategies for addressing the regional nuances of renewable energy supply-and-demand markets are critical, but they will take time.

3. Accounting: Modernize the framework for renewable energy reporting to unleash markets

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP) is the global accounting standard that largely determines how emissions from energy use are accounted. The GHGP Scope 2 guidance, released in 2015, says renewable energy is to be sourced within the same grid where the emissions are accounted, with limited exceptions. Yet we know renewable energy is not adequately available in several regions, and emissions vary significantly depending on the electricity it displaces.

In 2025, AMD joined the Emissions First Partnership, which advocates for restructuring the accounting principles based on matching emissions instead of electricity consumption. A ton of carbon is a ton of carbon, and the climate doesn’t care where it comes from. By putting emissions first, we prioritize renewable energy investment to maximize impact (i.e., where grid emissions are higher) and scale (i.e., allowing sourcing from a broader market). For example, a company that aims to reach 100% renewable energy and that happens to operate in a region with limited supply could reach its goal years or even decades sooner, and likely at significantly lower costs.

In the end, these are complex challenges to solve. But that’s what we do at the cutting-edge of the semiconductor sector, and we do it best through collaborative, data-driven approaches. I am confident that by working with our suppliers and industry groups, we can rapidly accelerate renewable energy use and decarbonize the industry and planet. I invite business leaders to learn more about the SCC and EFP organizations.

For more information on AMD Environmental Sustainability initiatives, please visit https://www.amd.com/en/corporate/corporate-responsibility/environmental-sustainability.html.

ⁱhttps://www.iea.org/reports/renewables-2024/global-overview

ⁱⁱ“Corporates’ Supply Chain Scope 3 Emissions Are 26 Times Higher Than Their Operational Emissions,” CDP and BCG, https://www.eticanews.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Scope-3-Upstream-Report.pdf

ⁱⁱⁱhttps://pr.tsmc.com/english/news/3067

^ivhttps://www.iea.org/reports/renewables-2024/global-overview

^vhttps://www.stimson.org/2022/semiconductors-and-taiwans-silicon-shield/

^viSemiconductor Climate Consortium - Transparency, Ambition, and Collaboration: Advancing the Climate Agenda of the Semiconductor Value Chain (2023).