AMD promotes the green credentials of its Fusion chips

AMD have hailed their Fusion initiative as a move towards greener technology.

The company say that their Accelerated Processing Units – or APUs – are responsible for reducing the carbon footprint of technology, thanks to their phenomenally low power consumptions.

So, it appears that AMD chips like the Zacate and the Ontario are saving the planet thanks to AMD’s innovative technology which allows them to cram a dual core processor and a graphics processor into one tiny chip.

A study conducted by a Masters student in conjunction with the environmental business group, Netimpact showed that an APU Fusion chip produces 40.2kg of CO2 greenhouse gas in its lifetime, a 40.3% reduction from the CO2 produced by previous generation products such as the AMD Athlon Neo II.

AMD have obviously been trumpeting these findings that seemingly identify them as the “green crusaders” of the PC market. However, critics of the study have pointed out that one major piece of information is missing; how much CO2 is produced in the manufacture of these chips?

Until figures come to light showing just how much CO2 is produced in the processes of rendering the raw materials and manufacturing the chips it will be impossible to tell if the Fusion initiative really represents a leap forward in green technology or not; but on a basic level, the lower power consumption of the chips will undoubtedly have some sort of impact on the carbon footprint of individual PC users.

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