Intel and partners have introduced a "green PC" – it's 90% recyclable

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technewsspace.com, Feb. 26, 2023 – 

Intel held a presentation today in Beijing to highlight efforts to build green commercial computers. The semiconductor giant and its partners Tsinghua Tongfang and Acer took the opportunity to "the first mass-produced eco-friendly PCs" – 90% of its components should be recyclable.

Intel supplies processors, chipsets and some other chips, so it takes a lot of effort for other manufacturers to make computers more environmentally friendly. The company shared some recommendations to meet very ambitious energy efficiency and emissions reduction targets. Intel introduced its cradle-to-cradle manufacturing model and spoke about environmental controls to reduce carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing to recycling. Four key points of the concept of low-carbon energy saving were identified: definition and design, production and delivery, use and maintenance, and recovery and recycling.

The demo system uses a 12th Gen Intel Alder Lake processor, but Intel didn't specify which one. Since the CPU was cooled by a stock Intel cooler, we can assume that the system is probably not using a K-series chip whose maximum power can reach 241W, but rather a T-series chip with a lower TDP of 35W. The Intel Green Computer Software Control Center was specially designed for this PC to put it in a low-carbon mode. The program automatically detects user activities and improves the system's energy efficiency depending on the usage scenario.

The motherboard has a simple integrated design. There are two SO-DIMM memory slots, one M.2 SSD slot, and one PCIe x16 expansion slot. Intel has not disclosed the form factor of the board, it is only known that its area is 36% smaller than that of standard ATX boards. The design of the motherboard helps reduce the number of cables as there are almost no connectors. Only the fan cable of the stock Intel cooler and the cable from the power supply are visible.

The number of motherboard components has been reduced from 1800 to 1400, resulting in a material saving of 22%. The power subsystem has become 6% more efficient than a normal board and looks very modest, although appearances can be deceiving. Recycling metal, resin and fiberglass circuit boards has always been a challenge, mainly due to the difficulty of separating resin and fiberglass. Intel and its industrial partners are targeting a 95% recycling rate for metal and glass fibers and 90% for organic materials.

The "green" PC uses a power supply unit (PSU) that is 70% smaller than standard ATX devices. It is made from gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors, which reduces the carbon footprint by 90%. The power supply has a fanless design, offers a single 12V output and has an 80 Plus Titanium certification that guarantees 94% efficiency at 50% load and at least 90% efficiency at 10% load. The PC comes in a compact 7 liter case. It's even smaller than the old Intel Beast Canyon NUC, which had an 8-liter chassis. The circuit board is attached to the housing with only four screws.

During the event, Intel promoted the use of green materials and clean energy in the manufacturing process and recommended that suppliers only work with manufacturers who share the same green philosophy. It's hard to say if we can expect such eco-friendly PCs to hit the retail market soon, or if it was a tech demo for PC makers.

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