Apple has leant its name — and, more importantly, its cold, hard cash — to a new initiative investing around $300 million to push energy use in China.
The fund will invest in and develop clean energy projects, capable of powering the equivalent of nearly 1 million homes.
Ten companies in all are participating in the China Clean Energy Fund. This will will connect Apple suppliers with renewable energy sources. The money will be invested over a four-year period.
”At Apple, we are proud to join with companies that are stepping up to address the climate challenge,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives. “We’re thrilled so many of our suppliers are participating in the fund and hope this model can be replicated globally to help businesses of all sizes make a significant positive impact on our planet.”
Apple’s clean energy quest
Back in April this year, Apple became the world’s first major tech company to be powered by 100 percent renewable energy. However, while this covered all of its own global facilities, Apple has also pushed its suppliers to embrace clean energy.
It launched its Supplier Clean Energy Program back in 2015. Since then, 23 manufacturing partners in 10 countries have all committed to following Apple’s example. The goal is for Apple and its suppliers to generate more than 4 gigawatts of new clean energy worldwide by 2020. This would represent one third of Apple’s current manufacturing electricity footprint.
Suppliers who are participating in the newly announced China Clean Energy Fund include Catcher Technology, Compal Electronics, Corning Incorporated, Golden Arrow, Jabil, Luxshare-ICT, Pegatron, Solvay, Sunway Communication, and Wistron.
It’s good to see Apple use its position to once again be what Tim Cook has called a “force for good” in the world.
