R&D: Embodied Carbon Footprint of 3D NAND Memories

HAL Science Ouverte has published an article written by Olivier Weppe, Thibaut Marty, Univ Rennes, INSA Rennes CNRS, IETR, UMR 6164, F 35000 Rennes, France, Sébastien Toussaint, Nicolas Brusselmans, ICTEAM, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, Jean-Christophe Prévotet, Univ Rennes, INSA Rennes CNRS, IETR, UMR 6164, F 35000 Rennes, France, Jean-Pierre Raskin, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, and Maxime Pelcat, Univ Rennes, INSA Rennes CNRS, IETR, UMR 6164, F 35000 Rennes, France.

Abstract: “This study presents a novel model for estimating the embodied carbon footprint of Solid-State Drives (SSDs), focusing on the relationship between manufacturing complexity and environmental impact. By analyzing the number of process steps required to fabricate SSDs, particularly those using 3D NAND technology, the model predicts carbon emissions without the need for a detailed physical analysis.“

“The model is applied to over 1,000 SSD devices, revealing that higher-density SSDs, which utilize more advanced multi-layer technologies, demonstrate an improved carbon efficiency. Devices with more layers show a lower carbon footprint per gigabyte, despite the increased manufacturing complexity.“

“Our results are compared to product carbon footprints reported by manufacturers, revealing significant discrepancies both between our estimates and the manufacturers’ reports, as well as among the manufacturers’ own reported values. However, the proposed model offers a streamlined and accessible method for estimating the carbon footprint of SSDs, providing insights for sustainable data storage solutions. On studied NAND Flash chips, the model estimates an average embodied carbon of 22 kg CO 2 e per TB.“

“3D NAND technologies enable an unforeseen density of information, which is not without an environmental cost. Due to its sustained increase in capacity in computing devices, SSDs are becoming the dominating factor of the carbon footprint in computers.“