Apple Committing €1 Million to Ocean Wave Energy Research in Ireland

Continuing its recent moves to embrace renewable energy sources, Apple has agreed to fund a €1 million initiative through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) to support research into harnessing wave energy.

wave_energy_galway_ireland

Ocean Energy Test Site in Galway Bay, Ireland

“We're excited by the potential of ocean energy to someday serve as a source of clean power for the data centre we are building in Athenry, County Galway," said Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives. "We are deeply committed to powering all our facilities with 100 percent renewable energy and believe investing in innovative projects will make reaching our goal easier."

The initiative funded by Apple will help fund researchers testing their wave harnessing technologies at the Galway Bay Ocean Energy Test Site.

Wave energy is just one renewable energy source Apple has supported in an effort to become more environmentally friendly. Solar energy has been a major component of Apple's initiative, although the company has also embraced wind, biogas fuel cell, hydroelectric, and geothermal solutions to help power its data centers and other facilities as it seeks to move to 100% renewable energy for its own facilities and even help its suppliers make similar transitions.

Top Rated Comments

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Fzang

43 months ago

1 million euros is a small price to pay to stay friends with the local government.

Rating: 9 Votes

Reason077

43 months ago

This'll never work. More alternative energy hippy nonsense.

Good quality, wholesome, all-American COAL is the way to meet our growing energy needs.

Rating: 8 Votes

2457282

43 months ago

This'll never work. More alternative energy hippy nonsense.

Good quality, wholesome, all-American COAL is the way to meet our growing energy needs.

And nothing mentioned about good ol' clean nuclear energy at all.... Again... Because that would make WAY too much sense -__-

lol 'Murrica

Not sure if you all are trying to be funny but neither COAL nor Nuclear are renewable. In addition, both produce significant waste that affects the environment. If the idea is to use renewable and environmental solutions then there are only 4 options -- sun, earth, wind, and water. Coal and Oil technically fall under earth, but they do not meet the renewable or the environmental criteria. Nuclear is a man-made source that will destroy the planet (see chernobyl or japan).

Rating: 7 Votes

GeneralChang

43 months ago

This'll never work. More alternative energy hippy nonsense.

Good quality, wholesome, all-American COAL is the way to meet our growing energy needs.

You forgot the /s tag.

Rating: 7 Votes

Z400Racer37

43 months ago

And nothing mentioned about good ol' clean nuclear energy at all.... Again... Because that would make WAY too much sense -__-

This'll never work. More alternative energy hippy nonsense.

Good quality, wholesome, all-American COAL is the way to meet our growing energy needs.

lol 'Murrica

Rating: 5 Votes

Sheza

43 months ago

Peanuts. Absolute peanuts. If they'd promised €100m then this would be a headline barely worth talking about. Apple makes this kind of money every minute or something and the research needs much more than €1m.

I like Apple, I really do. But this move just serves to arm them for their trial regarding Irish tax agreements. This and the creation of 1000 jobs in Ireland is a convenient ruse to arm them for the trial while scoring environmental points and also making their necessary Irish job creations that they would have made at some point anyway due to growth.

Rating: 4 Votes

nagromme

43 months ago

Energy DIVERSITY is good.

Anything that doesn't spill more pollution into our greenhouse is worth pursuing to see where it leads. Some of these solutions will remain niche experiments, others will surprise us.

Research is exactly what is called for.

Rating: 4 Votes

PJL500

43 months ago

Nuclear may not be renewable, but it's probably our best currently available option. Long term what we really need to do is figure out a super efficient way to capture solar energy, which is super abundant. Or cold fusion. Which would be amazing, but is probably a lot further off.

But nuclear gives us the time we need to find a more permanent solution using technology we already have (breeder reactors) and in a form that won't kill the planet in the meantime (coal, natural gas, etc). And if you have doubts about the safety of nuclear reactors, I'd urge you to go read a few scholarly articles on the technology behind breeder reactors. Not only do they produce a lot of energy, they basically consume their own waste and are designed in such a way that meltdowns are as remote a possibility as any one of the enormous hydroelectric dams in the world simply falling to pieces. Maybe even more remote. And it would probably be less damaging, assuming we put them in the right places. It's pretty impressive technology.

Nuclear is a fabulous option. Just look at Fukushima... . $58Bn cleanup bill so far without accounting for the disposal of contaminated material (water etc.) (A new nuclear reactor being built at Flamanville in France is at least five years late and its cost has tripled to €8 billion.)

Rating: 3 Votes

lkrupp

43 months ago

1 million euros is a small price to pay to stay friends with the local government.

Why does everything have to be a conspiracy involving corruption and/or bribery? Apple has made it very clear they are committed to renewable energy in a big way. Whether you accept the climate science or not cleaner energy does no harm to anyone.

Rating: 3 Votes

Sill

43 months ago

1 - Apple hiring 1,000 in Cork.
2 - Apple funding wave energy in Ireland.
3 - Apple sucking up big time in Ireland to avoid big tax bill.

They need to do whatever they can to protect that cash from the politicians. In this case, the things they are doing have benefits both small and great to not just the local people but to the region. If they advance the development of wave technology, so much the better for all of us.

A couple of focused companies with a strong profit motive can do more to help than all the governments in the world, on so many levels.

Rating: 3 Votes

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