Semiconductor silicon is made using coal

I must say that I find it extremely hypocritical of the rest of the world to criticize China for their high contribution to CO2 emissions when they have been so busy exporting a lot of their product manufacturing out there for a more profitable business model and to make themselves appear to have a lower carbon footprint than they actually do. Let's get somebody else to make our stuff more cheaply and in higher volume than we can then condemn them for industrial activity whilst we sit on the sidelines polishing our halos.

Edited by Ash - 03 Nov 2021 at 9:07am

I just looked up what silicon ore is, as I did not actually know how silicon is obtained. I guessed it was found in the Earth's crust in a non-elemental form but at 33, I never realised that common sand was silica; the source of both silicon and quartz. Like the ores of other elements, the smelting process to isolate pure elemental silicon requires energy input (heat) and coke (carbon).