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How semiconductors are driving decarbonization

Rising demand for energy, depleted natural resources and climate change call for more efficient ways of generating, transmitting, storing and consuming energy. Infineon’s semiconductor solutions allow energy to be created and used more efficiently.

Energy
Renewables
Article

Jul 11, 2025

Rising energy consumption, rising CO2 emissions: Where is the solution?

2024 saw unprecedented global temperatures. It became the first year with an average temperature clearly exceeding 1.5 °C above the pre-industrial level. The latest findings of the Copernicus Earth Observation Program1 are alarming. In 2024 multiple global records were broken, for greenhouse gas levels, and for both air temperature and sea surface temperature, contributing to extreme events, including floods, heatwaves and wildfires. The report underscores the urgent need to reach Net Zero emissions as quickly as possible. However, the world still strongly depends on fossil fuels, which are some of the biggest contributors to climate change.

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While populations and industries are growing at an unprecedented rate, the need for energy is rising continuously. Therefore, despite global efforts to reduce them, the world’s energy-related carbon dioxide emissions from energy combustion and industrial processes rose to a record high of 37.8 billion tons in 2024, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Rising energy consumption on the one hand and CO2 reduction on the other is presenting a dilemma for societies worldwide.

To address these issues, we need to use energy more wisely. 

Leveraging technology to power the green energy revolution

We are still in the early phase of the green energy revolution. While industries such as solar, wind and hydro have grown into vast manufacturing operations today, they only contribute to around 12 percent of the global energy supply, according to the IEA World Energy Outlook 2024 However, this is expected to grow by up to 70 percent if we achieve the IEA Net Zero Emissions by 2050 scenario.

Addressing climate change and reducing carbon emissions requires a proactive rather than a reactive approach. This is where technology can play a crucial role - helping optimize all stages of the energy conversion chain, including generation, storage, transmission, and consumption. Especially microelectronics can ensure that we get the most out of renewable energies, that energy is stored and transmitted with a minimum loss, and that we can reduce our energy consumption with efficient devices and machines. The potential is huge!

How revolutionary microelectronics can contribute to the energy transition

Indeed, semiconductor technology has emerged as a key technology that can help address the challenges of CO2 emissions and resource scarcity. Semiconductor solutions enable the provision of green energy and the electrification of various sectors, including industry, mobility and consumer. Renewable power stations, for example, rely heavily on semiconductors, without which they would not be able to function.

Wind turbine full view with blades and with view in nacelle
Wind turbine full view with blades and with view in nacelle
Wind turbine full view with blades and with view in nacelle

Specifically, semiconductors are designed to optimize power conversion for maximum energy efficiency. This not only reduces heat production and cooling requirements but also leads to lower energy wastage and lower CO2 emissions.

Energy saved is energy produced

Industry experts at Infineon, one of the largest semiconductor companies in the world, highlighted a few real-life examples of how semiconductors are contributing to reducing CO2 emissions and promoting decarbonization. Wind and solar energy are such areas. Each power conversion step, such as converting wind or solar energy into alternating current suitable for feeding into the grid, results in some energy loss which is dissipated as heat. Modern semiconductors help minimize these conversion losses and increase the amount of energy that can be harvested from wind or solar. 

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In 2023, Infineon products were installed into over 2.9 million new solar and 18,600 wind systems, which enabled the generation of a total clean energy capacity of 210 GW. This corresponds to a yearly avoidance of 225 million tons of CO2 emissions.

Energy savings potential in data centers

Data usage is growing exponentially, driven by rapid advances in AI applications. The global data volume is estimated to reach 291 zettabytes by 2027 (IDC Data Age Report 2025). The backbone of this development and our digital society are datacenters – from corporate servers to “AI factories”. Data centers store, network and process vast amounts of data. At the same time, their energy needs are growing rapidly. According to the IEA, data centers are responsible for consuming around 2 percent of the world's total electricity, or 460 TWh, which is equivalent to the energy consumption of around 153 million households. Up to 40 percent of the energy is typically used for cooling alone. Additionally, in an average data center about 17 percent of energy is lost during various power conversion steps. 

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There is a strong need for innovative power solutions that reduce waste heat and minimize cooling requirements. This is where power semiconductors come in, especially the latest technologies such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN). These components significantly increase energy efficiency and optimize every step of power conversion – from the grid to the processors. This approach helps reduce operating costs while promoting sustainability: By reducing the need for cooling, operators can conserve water resources and significantly reduce CO2 emissions. By combining state-of-the-art semiconductors from Infineon, data centers can drastically reduce their power consumption:

energy saving potential data centers
energy saving potential data centers
energy saving potential data centers

Green smart homes – built on sensors

This year, the number of smart homes is expected to reach 500 million worldwide, bringing increased convenience but also additional energy consumption. To address climate challenges, reducing overall energy consumption is critical, specifically through smart functionalities. One way to achieve this is with the help of sensors, which enable connected devices to understand their surroundings and react accordingly, a concept known as “contextual awareness”.

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Here are two examples of how sensors could make our homes greener:
modern living room
modern living room
modern living room

Radar sensors enable the detection of human presence. For example, the Samsung Frame TV uses an Infineon radar sensor to detect people in the room and turns off the art mode once nobody is around, saving OLED lifetime and energy. Similarly, this principle of motion or presence detection also works for lighting systems, thermostats, air cons or security cameras. If we assume 500 million smart homes globally with five smart devices, each device saving 100 Wh per day on average, we could reach a total energy saving of over 90 TWh per year.

CO2 sensor open window
CO2 sensor open window
CO2 sensor open window

Another example is an intelligent ventilation system with an environmental sensor from Infineon that measures the CO2 concentration using the number of people present in the room. Accordingly, the ventilation unit provides a calculated amount of fresh air, thus saving up to 54 percent of energy, as described by the "Energy and Buildings" journal (March 2020). By incorporating these sensors, smart homes can optimize energy consumption, reduce CO2 emissions, and increase user experience and comfort. 

These promising use cases demonstrate how technology provides us with green, effective, and intelligent solutions. Microelectronics can play a big role in helping us achieve our climate goals, paving the way for a sustainable future.

Sources:

[1] Copernicus (January 2025): Global Climate Highlights 2024