Earlier this year, it was announced that Intel would establish its new chip factory in Magdeburg, Germany. Now it seems that the soil that needs to be mined for the foundation of the building is quite fertile. Regional associations and the municipality want to reuse the land, but it will be a difficult task.
About 30 to 50 centimeters of fertile soil should be excavated for construction. Normally this is just thrown into a big pile, but according to Urban Jülich, the local farmers’ association, the soil loses its fertility, making reuse impossible.
The idea is to offer the excavated soil to local farms for free. That’s easier said than done, because it’s about 600,000 tons in total. That equates to 24,000 full truckloads, so letting farmers take the land themselves isn’t really an option.
In any case, Intel itself applauds the initiative. According to Christin Eisenschmid, Managing Director of Intel’s Germany branch, sustainability is very important to the company. The 17 billion euro chip factory is an important investment for Intel. Construction is expected to begin in 2023. The first chips will be produced in 2027.
Here comes the new chip factory
Source: Zeit
Source: Hardware Info
