Apple today announced that 93 percent of its facilities run on renewable energy, including 100 percent of its facilities in the US, China, and 21 other countries. Lisa Jackson, Apple's VP of Environment, Policy, and Social Issues, made the announcement at Monday's event in Cupertino, California, where the company is expected to announce a new iPhone and iPad.
Apple had set a goal of having 100 percent of its facilities run on renewable energy two years ago. Since 2012, all of its data centers have run entirely on renewable sources including solar, wind, biogas fuel cells, micro‑hydro power, and geothermal power. Earlier this year, CEO Tim Cook announced plans to build a 1,300-acre solar farm that will power its new headquarters and other stores and offices in California.
"Climate change is one of the great challenges of our time."
Apple also detailed some of its ongoing environmental initiatives, including a 40-megawatt solar farm that it built in China, and a project to put solar panels on rooftops in Singapore. Earlier The company says that 99 percent of the paper used in its packaging is either recycled or comes from "sustainably managed forests." Apple announced its environmental initiatives close to the very beginning of today's event, after Cook opened with a defense of the company's position in its battle with the FBI over encryption.
Other tech companies have made similar moves to embrace renewable energy, including Google, which also aims to power 100 percent of its operations with clean energy sources. Last year, the search giant announced that it had purchased 942 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy to power its data centers, marking the largest purchase of renewable energy by a non-utility company. Amazon has also said it aims to power its data centers with 100 percent clean energy, while Facebook has opened several data centers in the US and Europe that are powered by renewable energy, including wind and hydropower.
Cook has been outspoken about climate change in the past. Last year, when announcing new environmental initiatives in China, he said: "Climate change is one of the great challenges of our time, and the time for action is now."
Check out our iPhone SE and iPad Live Blog for the latest updates and our Apple hub page for all the news!
