Historically, Greenpeace hasn’t been very happy with Apple. In the past, they have scored Apple last in reports on green-friendly data centers, called the iCloud one of the dirtiest things on the planet, and called Apple less green friendly than Dell, HP and Nokia.
But things have seemingly changed. In a new report on renewable energy used by major Internet companies, Apple came out at 100%, thanks to the wind farms and solar arrays that now allow Apple’s data centers to run on 100% renewable energy. What’s the dirtiest thing on the planet now?
Google didn’t do quite as well, but still topped the list, with 34% of their (admittedly much vaster and more international) data centers running on green powers. Google’s trying, and struck deals in Oklahoma and North Carolina to use more renewable energy, but it’s a slow process.
Microsoft did not fare as well. Greenpeace points out that Microsoft claims to be green-friendly, but it’s a technicality, thanks to the purchase of carbon offsets and renewable energy credits.
Worst of the bunch? Amazon, who got an ‘F’ rating by Greenpeace in renewable energy deployment and advocacy. In fact, apparently Amazon’s big North Virginia data center only uses 2% renewable energy. Shocking, really.
Admittedly, Greenpeace can be a tempermental bunch, but there’s no doubt that Apple has made big strides when it comes to taking care of the environment in recent years. Let’s hope this trend continues, not just in Cupertino, but across Silicon Valley as a whole.
Source: Greenpeace
