Apple's Green Bond spend is now $2.8B, helped create 1.2 gigawatts of clean power

Source: Apple

Apple has now spent US$2.8B to help generate 1.2 gigawatts of clean energy as part of its Apple Green Bond Initiative. The company has released an update through its Annual Green Bond Impact Report. 

The company has promised to spend a total of $4.7B for this initiative. Some projects are directly tied to generating power for its data centers, while others are for feeding clean energy into the grid.

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Microsoft's 'Planetary Computer' wants to help preserve biodiversity

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Microsoft has plans to be carbon negative by 2030, and now it hopes to lend a helping hand to other interested third parties who are working to improve the environment. The Planetary Computer project wants to take data and process it through artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide satellite imagery, environmental and biological data and more to partners and customers. The hope is the data can be used for decision-making about environmental issues, both in the public and private sectors. 

Planetary Computer is more than a single machine. It is an extension of Microsoft's AI for Earth, which puts AI tools in the hands of its partners working on the ocean, wildlife, forestry, and agricultural endeavours. The company plans to invest more in areas like land cover mapping, land usage information, and species identification. The aim is that it can use and build its digital resources with more data that third parties can use to preserve wildlife and the environment.  

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Samsung will reportedly dispose of returned Note7 phones

What's going to happen to the 2.5 million Samsung Galaxy Note7 devices that are enroute to Samsung after a global recall resulting in the company taking them off the market? A Samsung spokesperson told Motherboard that, "the phones will not be repaired, refurbished, or resold ever again: We have a process in place to safely dispose of the phones."

Samsung hasn't specified how it is going to dispose of the 2.5 million devices, all of which contain chemicals (the offending batteries included) rare minerals and various toxic elements. There's a serious question about the impact of such massive disposal and how it could impact the environment. The implications of disposing so many smartphones shortly after they were manufactured just adds to the bad news related to the Note7 recall.

Source: Motherboard

Apple gives an update on environmental initiatives at SE event

Aside from talking about the new iPhone and iPad Pro, Apple has also shared its initiatives to help make the world a better place to live in. According to Lisa Jackson, Apple’s VP of Environment, Policy, and Social Issues, the company now runs 93 percent of its facilities on renewable energy and its facilities in the US, China, and 21 other countries are already 100 percent running on renewable energy. The company has set a goal of reaching 100 percent for all its facilities two years ago. Some of the company’s ongoing initiatives include a 40-megawatt solar farm in China and plans to put solar panels on Singapore’s rooftops.

Since 2012, Apple’s data centers have been running entirely on renewable sources such as solar, wind, biogas fuel cells, micro-hydro power, and geothermal power.  And earlier this year, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced they’re building a 1,300-acre solar farm to power its new headquarters and other stores and offices in California.

Source: The Verge