Door: STopMicro.
“Microelectronics Is Drying and Poisoning Our Environment
Grenoble specialises in micro and nanotechnology, and likes to present itself as the ‘French Silicon Valley’. Most of its companies were partly created by the Commissariat à l’énergie atomique (CEA, French atomic energy agency), which supports resolutely any microelectronics initiative. STMicroelectronics (ST) and Soitec are major stakeholders in this ‘ecosystem’. Together they corner 185 litres of drinkable water every second, that is to say one Sainte-Soline mega basin in 40 days. During summer droughts, when residents are prohibited from watering their garden, ST and Soitec keep on gobbling the drinking water of the public network without any restriction. Electronics is one of the thirstiest industries, as they use pure water to manufacture chips. ST and Soitec pollute the Isère River with their chemicals, with the help of special authorisations from the local public authorities. The polluted water these companies throw in the river contains many toxic chemicals: ammonia, chlorine, hexafluoride, phosphorus, PFAS (forever chemicals)… As for the mega-basin in agriculture, the question is how resources are distributed and which society are we building with such extension projects?
Invasion of Smart Objects
Chips produced in the Grenoble area will mostly end up in electrical vehicles, smart objects and mobile phones. We find them in Tesla cars, in Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites, in AI video surveillance, food processors, 5G and even in smart swimsuits and smart flasks! Microelectronics is digitalising our world: big money and powerful policing tools for the capitalist system, with a previously unseen influence on our ways of life.“
