Apple issues annual environmental report, touts renewable energy use
While technological progress and the environment often seem to be at odds, many tech companies are working hard to lessen the impact their businesses have on the planet. Over the last several years, Apple has released an annual progress report about its environmental status, and this year is no different. On Thursday, the company updated its Apple and the Environment pages with information about the year gone by, and how it’s improved on its goals vis-a-vis the environment.
Green energy
Perhaps the most prominent piece of news from the update is that Apple’s data centers are now powered entirely by renewable energy sources—specifically, solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal. The company currently maintains three data centers in Prineville, Oregon; Newark, California; and Maiden, North Carolina. A fourth is planned for Reno, Nevada. The Maiden data center last year saw the completion of the country’s largest end user-owned, onsite solar array, producing 42 million kWh of green power; a second array is scheduled to be built nearby this year.
AppleThe solar array for Apple's Maiden, NC data center is the largest end user-owned, onsite one in the U.S.
Overall, 75 percent of the energy used by the company’s corporate facilities around the world is now renewable—up from a mere 35 percent in 2010. Part of those improvements are the result of Apple reducing its energy use by 30 percent, even as the occupancy of its facilities have increased by more than 12 percent. The company’s goal is to achieve a “net zero” efficiency, using entirely renewable energy and generating zero emissions.
Currently, several of the company’s corporate facilities are entirely powered by renewable energy, including its locations in Austin, Texas; Elk Grove, California; Cork, Ireland; Munich Germany; and its corporate headquarters in Cupertino. The company also says that most of its facilities in Australia are also 100 percent renewable-energy-powered as well.
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