On April 9th Apple announced that its global operations are now powered by 100% renewable energy, a process that took years of work in 43 countries worldwide. This means that all of Apple’s data centers, retail stores, offices and facilities in 43 countries are now fully running on clean energy.
The road to 100% renewable energy took years of slow progression of solar installations, wind farm energy contracts, and new facilities starting up on 100% renewables.
Leading from the Front
Tim Cook, Apple’ CEO said, “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. 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.”
Apple established the Apple Clean Energy Portal— an online platform that the company developed to help suppliers identify commercial viable renewable energy solutions in regions around the world.
Apple’s Renewable Energy Ambition
Apple’s renewable energy projects around the world add up to 626 megawatts of generation capacity. 286 MW comes from photovoltaic solar production that came in 2017 alone. There are another 15 projects under construction and when completed will bring Apple’s portfolio to 1.4 gigawatts of renewable energy generation in 11 countries.
The iconic Apple headquarters in California is currently the largest LEED Platinum-certified office building in North America that bring together solar, batteries, and micro grid controller to keep everything working together to meet the energy needs of the building.
Setting a Standard
Apple’s accomplishment in achieving 100% renewable energy for all of its operations globally is an impressive feat that shows the world it is possible to be an environmentally friendly and financially successful corporation.
If massive technology companies like Apple can source 100% of their energy from renewables, it stands to reason that renewable energy can be the right financial decision— for big and small companies alike.
