Sustainable Electronics


How precision timing drives sustainable electronics design


By Taylor Aston-Nielsen from SiTime W


hat was once a consideration has become a priority: Energy efficiency is now a defining


challenge for electronics.


Commitments are stacking up for manufacturers; from 2050 net zero targets, to the EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation requirements. The onus falls on the chip industry more heavily than most. With a market worth $790 billion as of 2025 (1)


, chipmakers are under


growing pressure to play a central role in the global sustainability drive. How is this revolution taking place at the component level? Timing devices – which are the heartbeat of every electronic system — have emerged as a powerful lever for reducing power consumption, simplifying design, and shrinking the industry’s environmental footprint.


The scale of the challenge Data centres are a major driver of year-on- year increases in electricity consumption, with their energy usage up by 17 per cent in 2025 (2)


compared to a 3 per cent global growth rate. In data centres, the density of timing components per rack is high, and the economic pressure to cut power consumption is intense.


Industrial systems, connected devices, and 5G infrastructure are also accelerating global electricity demand, supporting today’s increasingly data-driven digital ecosystem.


Against this backdrop, the electronics industry is under mounting scrutiny — from regulators, customers and investors — to achieve rapid, measurable progress on energy efficiency.


Precision timing enabling cumulative sustainability wins Oscillators, resonators, and clock ICs synchronise operations in modern


24 July/August 2026 Components in Electronics www.cieonline.co.uk


electronics. Timing that is slightly out of sync causes systems to stay awake longer, consume more power, and generate more heat. At the component level, the


advantages of Microelectromechanical System (MEMS) based precision timing devices have a cumulative effect on efficiency and performance.


Better time synchronisation enables better scheduling and traffic management in the AI factory, meaning that compute nodes are spending more time doing work


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