More than 110 of Apple's manufacturing partners worldwide are moving to 100 percent renewable electricity for the goods they supply to the tech giant, supported by almost 8 gigawatts of new clean power capacity due to come online, the tech giant announced earlier this month.
The move is expected to avoid over 15 million metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent each year, which roughly equates to taking 3.4 million cars off the road annually, Apple claimed.
Moreover, the company revealed it is investing directly in renewable energy projects to cover a portion of its upstream emissions, as well as a major energy storage project in California to test out new solutions for clean power infrastructure.
"We are firmly committed to helping our suppliers become carbon neutral by 2030 and are thrilled that companies who've joined us span industries and countries around the world, including Germany, China, the U.S., India and France," said Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president for environment, policy and social initiatives.
The announcement builds on Apple's plan, unveiled last year, to become carbon neutral across its entire business, manufacturing supply chain and product life cycle by 2030. The firm claims it is already carbon neutral across its own corporate operations, but that by 2030 it wants every product it sells to have net-zero climate impact.
In a bid to bolster its clean energy and climate ambitions, the company last month shared details of $4.7 billion of investment enabled through its green bond issuances, which aim to support environmental projects around the world.
Last week it provided an update on its program to help suppliers deliver on their own renewable energy goals. The program has seen firms such as DSM Engineering Materials and STMicroelectronics secure power purchase agreements for their operations in the Netherlands and Morocco respectively, while several firms in the U.S. and 15 suppliers in China also have joined the initiative.
Meanwhile, Apple is also constructing what it claims is one of the largest battery projects in the U.S. at California Flats, which it said was designed to store up to 240 megawatt-hours of electricity, or enough to power over 7,000 homes for one day. The project has been developed to support its nearby 130MW solar farm, which provides all of Apple's renewable electricity needs in California, and will store excess energy generated during the day for use at times of greatest demand.
Overall, Apple — one of the largest public companies in the world by market capitalization — said it had consistently reduced its carbon footprint while increasing its net revenue, helping to avoid a total of 15 million metric tonnes of CO2 through low carbon materials, energy efficiency and clean power initiatives.
"In a year like no other, Apple continued to work with a global network of colleagues, companies and advocates to help make our environmental efforts and everything we do a force for good in people's lives — and to work alongside the communities most impacted by climate change," Jackson added.
