Renewable: Apple Flying The Flag For Greener World

With Apple winning a United Nations award for its use of 100% renewable energy and the company making great strides towards cleaning up its carbon footprint, we take a closer look at the future of one of the world’s most sustainable and eco-conscious technology giants…

INVESTING IN GREEN ENERGY

“Truly innovative products leave their mark on the world instead of the planet,” Apple proudly states on its website. It’s a big claim for a company that produces millions of iPhones, iPads, MacBooks and other technology products that, in the majority of cases, are used only for a year or two before they’re discarded for the latest model. Indeed, Apple has built its business on “newness” and innovating its products from the ground up every year, whether that’s a major new development like the introduction of Face ID or something as simple as a new color option for iPad or iPod Touch.

And whilst it’s easy to criticize Apple for its approach to throwaway technology, the company has made great strides in recent years to clean up its act, most notably by investing in green energy projects around the world. The company has more than 30 operational renewable energy projects globally, with 626 megawatts of generation capacity and 286 megawatts of solar PV generation to boot. What’s more, Apple confirmed towards the end of 2018 that every touchpoint - from retail stores to servers - is now powered by 100% renewable energy. And that’s not a new thing - Apple has been powering its data centers with 100% renewable energy since 2014, and since 2011, the firm’s renewable energy projects have reduced greenhouse gas emissions (CO2e) by 54 percent from its facilities worldwide and prevented nearly 2.1 million metric tons of CO2e from entering the atmosphere.