Our environmental program helps NXP conserve vital energy resources and increase our efficiency. We monitor and measure the environmental impacts using a sustainability management system which measures and tracks the energy consumption of our manufacturing sites.
We use electricity and natural gas, and a small amount of diesel to run our emergency generators.
Our electricity-conservation projects address both consumption reductions and opportunities to purchase electricity from renewable energy sources.
Semiconductor manufacturing is an electricity-intensive process. As a result, our wafer-fabrication sites represent the majority of our electricity use. Non-manufacturing electricity is only 3% of NXP's total consumption.
Our manufacturing facilities require a significant amount of electricity, therefore our strategic focus is on conservation initiatives and improving process efficiencies.
In 2021, we expanded our Systems on Silicon Manufacturing Company (SSMC) wafer fab in Singapore, and our product demand increased by 22%. As a result our normalized electricity decreased by 14% compared to 2020 and 15% compared to 2011.
We produce increasing complex products that involve many more processing steps, requiring greater electricity consumption, in addition to a product demand increase by 22%, our absolute electricity consumption increased by 5% compared to 2020 and remained level compared to 2011.
Our manufacturing sites continually optimize processes and upgrade equipment to reduce electricity consumption.
Electricity can be generated from a variety of energy resources which vary depending on-site location and country. Using a mix of resources gives us more flexibility and improves reliability.
Since 2015, we have steadily increased our use of electricity that comes from renewable sources.
In 2021, 31% of our overall electricity use was from renewable energy sources. In the Netherlands, the Nijmegen wafer fab became the first NXP manufacturing facility in 2020 to run on 100% renewable energy.
We continue to look for new ways to increase our use of renewable energy sources through power purchase agreements.
Electricity consumption at our offices and R&D centers is 3% of our total consumption. In 2021, our absolute electricity consumption increased by 2% compared to 2020 as a result of team members returning to the office in sites where COVID-19 conditions improved.
In addition to electricity, we consume minimal energy from sources such as natural gas, diesel and other fossil fuels.
We mostly use natural gas to heat buildings, generate steam for humidity and run our abatement equipment. Our use of natural gas depends strongly on both external weather and our internal production activity. Due to colder weather and increased production, our 2021 absolute natural gas consumption increased 5% from 2020. Compared to 2011, our consumption has decreased by 8%.
In case of power interruptions, we have diesel-driven emergency generators that support essential safety systems. Our consumption of diesel fluctuates depending on how often we test or need to use these emergency safety systems. In 2021, our total use of diesel increased significantly because of the unprecedented winter storm in Austin, Texas. The two manufacturing sites in Austin lost their supplies of power and natural gas for extended periods of time. As a result, safety and emergency support had to run on backup power provided by emergency generators using diesel.
This category includes gasoline, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and town gas. In 2021, our consumption of other fossil fuels decreased by 17% from 2020.
LPG (propane) is a relatively clean-burning fossil fuel that, compared to gasoline, produces fewer emissions and is safer to use indoors. We use LPG to run forklifts and in some of our onsite cafeterias.
Town gas, also known as coal gas, is a manufactured gaseous fuel made from coal and is used for heating in some geographical regions, including Asia. We use town gas as part of the recent factory expansion at our Systems on Silicon Manufacturing Company (SSMC) wafer fab in Singapore.
Contact NXP’s EHS team at corpehs@nxp.com
Contact NXP’s Sustainability team at csr@nxp.com
Aligning NXP’s products, operations and engagements with the UN Sustainable Development Goals to combat global challenges related to economic, social and environmental sustainability.