Renewable energies have gotten a lot of hype over the last few years. It seems only appropriate that an Intel campus in Arizona should be the first semiconductor company to receive LEED certification for a manufacturing campus right before Earth Day.
In addition to becoming LEED certified, the Ocotillo campus is attempting an eco-friendly proof-of-concept. They’re growing algae using CO2 emissions, which can be used to make biodiesel, a well-known renewable resource used in cars, buses, trains, and even airplanes. Intel says they want to displace their carbon emissions and also serve as an example to other corporations that produce their fair share of CO2. The plant, referred to as the fabrication facility (or “the fab”), gets the CO2 from its boiler stacks and channels the emissions up to the roof, where it feeds into tanks that grow the nasty looking bacteria.
Brad Biddle, who works with Intel’s legal department (and who has no relation with our Sam), says the next big questions are whether they can grow it at a large enough scale and, if so, accessing how much CO2 they’re able to capture. [PhysOrg, Image CC licensed, jdnx/Flickr]