As noted by CNET, Apple today updated its environmental site with updated data for 2011, revealing a few tidbits of new information about the company's work on energy usage and other topics.
Apple's data center in Maiden, North Carolina
Among the additions is a brief discussion of the company's massive new data center in Maiden, North Carolina, which Apple touts as being the only such facility of comparable size to earn LEED Platinum certification. The company also notes that the solar farm being built across the street from the facility will be the largest user-owned solar array in the United States, registering at 20 megawatts. Finally, Apple will also be powering the facility with a 5-megawatt fuel cell installation, the largest in the country not owned by a utility company. Additional details are available in the company's facilities report (PDF).
Our new data center in Maiden, North Carolina, demonstrates our commitment to reducing the environmental impact of our facilities through energy-efficient, green building design. The facility has earned the coveted LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. We know of no other data center of comparable size that has achieved this level of LEED certification. Our goal is to run the Maiden facility with high percentage renewable energy mix, and we have major projects under way to achieve this — including building the nation’s largest end user-owned solar array and building the largest nonutility fuel cell installation in the United States.
Still, rapid growth in the company's sales have caused Apple's carbon footprint to balloon, with greenhouse gas emissions increasing by 56% from 14.8 million metric tons in 2010 to 23.1 million metric tons in 2011. The biggest swings in terms of share of Apple's carbon footprint come from product use itself, which declined from 45% of the company's use to just 30%, and manufacturing, which increased from 45% to 61% between 2010 and 2011. But even with the rapid growth in carbon footprint, Apple touts that greenhouse gas emissions per dollar of revenue have decreased by 15.4 percent since 2008.
Among other additions in Apple's 2011 environmental report, the company touts increased usage of "environmentally conscious materials" such as repolymerized plastic bottles in fan assemblies, recycled plastic in speaker assembles and internal brackets, recycled paper in packing, and renewable tapioca paper foam in iPhone packages.
Apple has certainly improved, but are more open about what they're doing than the 3 that are above them. It's shifted from 2007, but you can get that companies are now showing what they're doing now, so they ratings are lower than what they used to be.
HP I can understand being more green cause they sell more products that are recyclable. Ink cartridges are the biggest recycled product, because they include shipping envelopes with new cartridges and you can even request free ones that hold more than just 1 cartridge.
I ride a bike, sold the car. I only buy recyclable products. I am a major sponsor of the WWF organization. I profit from my power bill through my 10 solar panels on the roof (even through winter), I have 3 massive rain water tanks for filling the pool and gardening. All of my appliances have 3-5 star energy ratings. I have a big back yard full of trees and plants.
I do respect what you do though.
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Nuclear station would be a great target for a suicide bomber and an extremely easy way to wipe out america in a couple of hours. Fault line or not. Earth quakes are not the only natural disaster than can occur. Nuclear is too risky. Plus you get nuclear wastage that has a half life of around 20,000 years.
If you want to evolve into a toad if not die be my guest but please go to another planet to do it
I have to disagree with your last point...While I'm not a physicist, I do have some elementary knowledge of nuclear reactors, and they are quite different than nuclear or thermonuclear (hydrogen) warheads. (Not sure if you were implying that someone could initiate a nuclear detonation, but this isn't possible). Sure, a terrorists could somehow gain access to fissile (I guess, distinct from fissionable; maybe someone can explain the difference in further detail than what Wikipedia can provide) material or spent fuel rods and make a dirty bomb (conventional explosive wrapped in radioactive material, which, when detonated, spreads radiation everywhere), but the likelihood of this happening, I think, is slim. France relies on nuclear power for 75% of their electricity and we have a number of reactors that haven't (or at least we don't know) been subject to any planned attack. The Navy has been using reactors since 1958. And I think it would be far easier to access this material outside the United States.
These reactors are very secure and they're encased in massively thick concrete, steel, and lead enclosures. Of course, nuclear waste is a problem, but you can recycle spent Uranium 235 rods into usable Plutonium (I think France does this). You do still have to deal with the Plutonium, but maybe it's easier to contain than the tons of lead, mercury, arsenic, and other toxic materials released by burning coal and the coal ash itself (which is toxic, despite what the EPA says about it).
Sure, Japan should give us pause, but if we can implement thorough safety measures, then I think we have a pretty good chance of operating these things safely.
Thursday January 27, 2022 12:08 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the first betas of iOS 15.4, iPadOS 15.4 to developers for testing purposes, adding a slew of new features to the latest iOS operating systems. iOS 15.4 is the biggest update that we've had to iOS 15 to date, and it brings Universal Control, Face ID with a mask, new emojis, and tons more.
Face ID With a Mask
With iOS 15.4, there is now an option to unlock your iPhone...
Thursday January 27, 2022 11:33 am PST by Juli Clover
With the iOS 15.4 update that was introduced today, Apple has added support for Emoji 14, introducing a selection of new emoji like melting face, biting lip, heart hands, and more. There are 37 new emoji and 75 skin tone additions in Emoji 14, resulting in a total of 112 characters.
New faces include melting face, saluting face, face with open eyes and hand over mouth, face with peeking eye, ...
Wednesday January 26, 2022 8:56 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Benchmark results have started to surface for MSI's new GE76 Raider, one of the first laptops to be powered by Intel's new 12th-generation Core i9 processor.
Intel previously said that its new high-end Core i9 processor is faster than Apple's M1 Max chip in the 16-inch MacBook Pro and, as noted by Macworld, early Geekbench 5 results do appear to confirm this claim, but there are several...
Thursday January 27, 2022 1:22 pm PST by Juli Clover
In today's iOS 15.4 beta that's available to developers, Apple added a useful new feature that changes the way Face ID works. There's now a Face ID with a Mask option that allows the iPhone to be unlocked when you're wearing a mask, but you need to have an iPhone 12 or newer.
Right now, an iPhone can be unlocked with a mask if you have an Apple Watch for authentication to add an extra layer...
Thursday January 27, 2022 10:54 am PST by Juli Clover
The iOS 15.4 beta that was introduced today added a new feature designed to allow Face ID to be used with a mask and without an Apple Watch for authentication. Apple says that the feature can "recognize the unique features around the eye" for authentication purposes. If you opt to use this feature during setup, you will need to rescan your face for Face ID. From there, Face ID will be able...
Apple today announced the Black Unity Braided Solo Loop for the Apple Watch, as well as a new downloadable watch face, to celebrate Black History Month. Following the launch of the limited edition Black Unity Apple Watch Series 6 and Sport Band in 2021, Apple today launched the Black Unity Braided Solo Loop as part of its celebrations for Black History Month this year.Apple is launching a...
Wednesday January 26, 2022 10:00 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released iOS 15.3 and iPadOS 15.3, the third major updates to the iOS and iPadOS 15 operating systems that were released in September 2021. iOS and iPadOS 15.3 come almost two weeks after the release of iOS and iPadOS 15.2.1, minor bug fix updates.
The iOS 15.3 and iPadOS 15.3 updates can be downloaded for free and the software is available on all eligible devices over-the-air in ...
Tuesday January 25, 2022 3:31 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Dropbox today announced that users who update to macOS 12.3 once that software version becomes available may temporarily encounter issues with opening online-only files in some third-party apps on their Mac.
In a support document and an email to customers, Dropbox said it is actively working on full support for online-only files on macOS 12.3 and will begin rolling out an updated version of...
Apple on January 26 finally released the iOS 15.3 and iPadOS 15.3 updates to the public, but unfortunately, these updates are focused more on security fixes than outward-facing changes.
Top Rated Comments
Other tech companies inviting the media into their factories: none.
Company getting all the flak: Apple.
Greenpeace? ROFLMAO. Sorry, but the're a joke. :apple:
2011:
Apple has certainly improved, but are more open about what they're doing than the 3 that are above them. It's shifted from 2007, but you can get that companies are now showing what they're doing now, so they ratings are lower than what they used to be.
HP I can understand being more green cause they sell more products that are recyclable. Ink cartridges are the biggest recycled product, because they include shipping envelopes with new cartridges and you can even request free ones that hold more than just 1 cartridge.
Agreed.
Lawyers 1%
These reactors are very secure and they're encased in massively thick concrete, steel, and lead enclosures. Of course, nuclear waste is a problem, but you can recycle spent Uranium 235 rods into usable Plutonium (I think France does this). You do still have to deal with the Plutonium, but maybe it's easier to contain than the tons of lead, mercury, arsenic, and other toxic materials released by burning coal and the coal ash itself (which is toxic, despite what the EPA says about it).
Sure, Japan should give us pause, but if we can implement thorough safety measures, then I think we have a pretty good chance of operating these things safely.
Thoughts?