The achievement by California-based tech giant Apple is the culmination of six years of great effort, involving financing, building, or locating new renewable energy sources close to its facilities. But perhaps just as important, Apple is bringing along everyone–from suppliers to local utilities–along for the ride, reports Fast Company.
In a news release, Apple said the 100 percent renewables achievement includes retail stores, offices, data centers and co-located facilities in 43 countries — including the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and India.
It was also announced that nine new manufacturing partners have committed to power all of their Apple production with 100 percent clean energy, bringing the total number of supplier commitments to 23.
“We’re committed to leaving the world better than we found it. After years of hard work we’re proud to have reached this significant milestone,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, according to CTV News.
“We’re going to keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible with the materials in our products, the way we recycle them, our facilities and our work with suppliers to establish new creative and forward-looking sources of renewable energy because we know the future depends on it.”
The news follows an announcement from Google last week that it had reached its goal to run on 100-percent renewable energy. The company’s SVP of Technical Infrastructure, Urs Holzle, officially confirmed that fact in a blog post last week.
“We do want to get to a point where renewables and other carbon-free energy sources actually power our operations every hour of every day,” Holzle said in his blog post, according to Green Matters. “It will take a combination of technology, policy and new deal structures to get there, but we’re excited for the challenge. We can’t wait to get back to work.”
Apple’s Renewable energy projects
In the early 2010’s, when Apple began construction of its data centers, renewable energy sources, like solar, wind, and hydropower. were thought of as being novel and inefficient. Apple soon realized that if the company was serious about running its data centers on green energy, it would have to take an active hand in priming the market.
And that is exactly what happened. When Apple built its first Data center in North Carolina in 2009, it found there were no renewable energy resources available close-by. So in 2012, it hired the Bay Area-based solar contractor SunPower, which built the 20-megawatt farm right across the street from the data center.
The idea of building a renewable energy source has grown to the point that Apple and its partners are building new renewable energy projects around the world, improving the energy options for local communities, states, and even entire countries.
These projects include a diverse range of energy sources, including solar arrays and wind farms as well as emerging technologies like biogas fuel cells, micro-hydro generation systems and energy storage technologies. Apple currently has 25 operational renewable energy projects around the world, totaling 626 megawatts of generation capacity.
