What you need to know
- Apple has announced that more than 110 suppliers are moving to 100 percent renewable energy.
- It says nearly 8 gigawatts of planned clean energy is set to come online.
- It will save over 15 million metric tons of CO2e annually.
Apple has today announced that more than 110 of its suppliers are switching to 100 percent renewable energy for their Apple production, saving more than 15 million metric tons of CO2e each year.
In a press release the company stated:
Apple today announced over 110 of its manufacturing partners around the world are moving to 100 percent renewable energy for their Apple production, with nearly 8 gigawatts of planned clean energy set to come online. Once completed, these commitments will avoid over 15 million metric tons of CO2e annually — the equivalent of taking more than 3.4 million cars off the road each year. Additionally, Apple is investing directly in renewable energy projects to cover a portion of upstream emissions, as well as a major energy storage project in California to pilot new solutions for renewable infrastructure.
Apple's VP for Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives Lisa Jackson said Apple was "firmly committed" to helping its suppliers become carbon neutral by 2030, a part of its huge 2020 carbon neutral commitment. Apple says that since this announcement it has "significantly increased" the number of suppliers transitioning to renewable energy, noting that its global corporate operation is already carbon neutral.
Apple highlighted new projects, like a massive new energy storage scheme in California:
Apple is constructing one of the largest battery projects in the country, California Flats — an industry-leading, grid-scale energy storage project capable of storing 240 megawatt-hours of energy, enough to power over 7,000 homes for one day. This project supports the company's 130-megawatt solar farm that provides all of its renewable energy in California, by storing excess energy generated during the day and deploying it when it is most needed.
Apple says that "once completed" the commitment to move its suppliers to 100 percent renewable energy will save over 15 million metric tons of CO2e each year. That represents a huge dent in its overall 25.1 million metric ton CO2 footprint from 2019, 76% of which came from product manufacturing.
You can read our breakdown of Apple's carbon neutral commitment here.
