Apple Says It is Now Powered by 100 Percent Renewable Energy Worldwide [u]

Apple has announced today its global facilities are now powered with 100 percent clean energy, which includes retail stores, offices, data centers and co-located facilities in 43 countries, which includes the U.S., UK, China and India.

The company also says nine more manufacturing partners have committed to power all Apple production with 100 percent clean energy, taking 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, in a press release. “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 says it currently has 25 operational renewable energy projects globally, which total 626 megawatts of generation capacity, with 286 megawatts of solar PV generation coming this year, its highest ever in a year; 15 more projects are under construction. Apple says once complete, over 1.4 gigawatts of clean renewable energy generation will span across 11 countries.

The company says since 2011, their renewable energy projects have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 54 percent from its worldwide facilities, and stopped almost 2.1 million metric tons of CO2e from the atmosphere.

Apple also detailed a variety of renewable energy projects, which include over 485 megawatts of wind and solar projects across six provinces in China. While in Singapore, Apple says it adapted to the nation state’s tiny footprint and installed solar panels on the rooftops of 800 buildings.

According to Apple, these green energy projects are “part of its commitment to combat climate change and create a healthier environment.”

Update: Fast Company has an exclusive interview with Apple VP of environment, policy, and social initiatives, Lisa Jackson. The piece is lengthy and covers the history of Apple’s green initiatives:

“If you look at our trajectory, for the last couple of years we’ve been close to 100%,” she says. “It’s just four percent more, but it’s four percent done the right way. So this announcement feels like a classic Apple product release. Like our products, we sweat the details, we have pretty strict standards, and we prefer to wait and meet our standards than to rush and make a claim.”