Amongst the deluge of media coverage for wind turbines, solar power and electric vehicles it’s easy to forget to the role of humble silicon chip in combating climate change. Two recent announcements highlight the impact they’re going to have. Audium Semiconductor, in Bristol, UK, has launched a 100W audio amplifier chip that’s 20X more efficient than existing amplifiers. In other words, for the same sound output, it consumes just one twentieth of the power. They explain how it works in a nice little 4 minute video at http://www.audiumsemi.com/video. The company estimates that using its technology in all suitable applications would save around 1000 GWh – equivalent to the output of a typical coal-fired power station – and 864,0000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

Energy Micro in Norway http://www.energymicro.com has just announced a microcontroller that uses only 25% of the power of its nearest rivals. As microcontrollers are found in just about every electronic device – from childrens’ toys to cars – the potential impact of this technology is massive.

While mainstream cleantech is focussed on the big stuff, the world’s appetite for tiny chips that consume very little power is growing at an ever-accelerating rate.