Apple turns green, claiming '100% clean energy'

In this file photo taken on September 22, 2017 an Apple logo is seen on the outside of an Apple store in San Francisco, California. (Photo: AFP/Josh Edelson)

The California tech giant said its retail stores, offices, data centres and co-located facilities in 43 countries were operating with nonpolluting or renewable energy.

Nine additional manufacturing partners have committed to powering all of their Apple production with clean energy, bringing the total number of supplier commitments to 23.

"We're committed to leaving the world better than we found it," Apple chief executive Tim Cook said in a statement.

"After years of hard work, we're proud to have reached this significant milestone.

"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."

The news follows a similar announcement from Google, which claimed in December it had attained a goal of 100 per cent renewable energy.

Apple said the company and its partners are building renewable energy projects around the world, including solar arrays and wind farms, as well as emerging technologies like biogas fuel cells, micro-hydro generation systems and energy storage technologies.

The company said it has 25 operational renewable energy projects around the world, totaling 626 megawatts of generation capacity.

In Japan, Apple is partnering with local solar company Daini Denryoku to install rooftop solar systems that will generate enough clean energy to power more than 3,000 homes. It also adapted and built renewable energy projects on 800 rooftops in Singapore, where land is scarce.

Apple has 15 more projects in construction. Once built, over 1.4 gigawatts of renewable energy generation will be spread across 11 countries.