Taiwan struggles to reconcile climate ambitions and chip manufacturing

The island’s semiconductor industry represents one-quarter of GDP but is a major source of carbon emissions.

Hsinchu, Taiwan – A crane bird flies across a silent rice paddy, the water slowly trickling in the background. It is a tranquil and stereotypical image of an East-Asian countryside. Little seems to suggest I am just a few kilometres removed from one of the hearts of the global economy.

This is Hsinchu, a small city close to Taipei in Taiwan. It is what you could literally call the Silicon Valley of the world.

Just a few kilometres from the tranquil rice paddies, gargantuan buildings rise from the ground, air conditioning humming permanently over the bustle of traffic. These are the factories that build the silicon chips or semiconductors that make our smartphones, computers and even artificial intelligence (AI) systems such as ChatGPT work.

Yet these two worlds, tranquil nature and high-tech manufacturing, are increasingly clashing on the island.

Taiwan is the world leader in the production of computer chips.