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Apple Announces $300 Million China Clean Energy Fund (bloomberg.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the clean-as-a-whistle dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: The iPhone maker said it's creating the fund to boost the use of renewable energy in its supply chain, which is primarily spread across regions in China. The company and 10 of its key suppliers and manufacturing partners, including Corning Inc., Pegatron Corp., Wistron Corp. and Luxshare Precision Industry Co., will contribute to the fund over the next four years, the Cupertino, California-based company said Thursday in a statement. The money will go toward developing projects totaling a gigawatt of renewable energy in China, Apple said. In 2015, Apple committed to using clean energy in its supply chain and has said it hopes to create 4 gigawatts of renewable energy globally by 2020, an increase from a goal of 3 gigawatts announced earlier this year.

20 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. Re:This is why I do not buy apple. by bug_hunter · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The American government recently is also pushing coal.
    And this news article is about Apple investing in renewables in China which hopefully gives renewables in China a boost.

    While Apple invests very little in manufacturing outside of China, they have invested a lot in campuses, data centres, software developers, retailers in America and other western cities - all of which are using renewable energy (or at least the usual allocation of renewable energy, an electron is an electron and all that).

    There are plenty of good reasons that Apple might not be the company for you, but I don't think the reasons you just gave justifies it.

    --
    It's turtles all the way down.
  2. Oooohhhhhhhh by dohzer · · Score: 1

    The iPhone maker

    Oooohhhhhhhh. I always wondered what Apple did for money.

  3. Re:This is why I do not buy apple. by WindBourne · · Score: 1

    and how many new coal plants is America building? ZERO.
    How many old coal plants have been re-opened? ZERO.
    Looks like a number of executives and governors are brighter than Trump and China.

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
  4. What are you typing on?? by SuperKendall · · Score: 2

    Apple sells far more to the west esp America. Yet rather than invest in western nations

    Apple actually has factories in the U.S. producing computers. In fact it plans to contribute some 350 billion dollars to the U.S. over five years.

    Compare that to whoever made whatever you are typing on. They treated Chinese's workers a lot worse than Apple. They probably will not contribute 1/100th of what Apple will to the American economy just this year...

    You claims are laughable and your lack of self-awareness beyond belief.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  5. Re:This is why I do not buy apple. by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    Chinese Government is not "pushing coal", moron.

    They are the leading nation installing renewables ... moron!

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  6. Re: This is why I do not buy apple. by Type44Q · · Score: 1
    Fuck them, fuck you, fuck their supply chain, fuck the gaps in their supply chain, fuck their suppliers' suicide nets, fuck Timmy and fuck you.

    Questions??

  7. Anyone know why? by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    I can't help but wonder why. Usually businesses make the government build infrastructure for them on the taxpayer's dime. Why would Apple spend their own money? Sorry, but you're not going to convince me it's out of the goodness of their heart. And that's not because I hate Apple (I do, but that's because I keep having to buy their overpriced products for my kid's birthdays and X-Mas'), it's because no corporation spends money they don't have to.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:Anyone know why? by cheesybagel · · Score: 1

      What I read from the summary is that it isn't Apple spending the money. They are forcing their supplies to cough up the money instead.

    2. Re:Anyone know why? by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      I can't help but wonder why. Usually businesses make the government build infrastructure for them on the taxpayer's dime. Why would Apple spend their own money? Sorry, but you're not going to convince me it's out of the goodness of their heart. And that's not because I hate Apple (I do, but that's because I keep having to buy their overpriced products for my kid's birthdays and X-Mas'), it's because no corporation spends money they don't have to.

      Easy, Goodwill.

      China is Apple's next target - basically a rising nouveau riche suddenly being able to afford (and want to buy) Apple's products.

      Apple has an image - an image of a progressive company that wants to get rid of things like discrimination, is environmentally conscious, and all in all touchy-feely "good".

      China has a dirty image, to the point they're heavily investing in clean energy. Thus, the two goals align - Apple wants to project a clean eco-friendly image, so they invest $300M into clean energy in China, and China probably gives them some nice tax incentives for helping them clean up the mess they're in.

      Win-win-win. Apple makes a good impression, China gets green energy, and Apple gets a marketing point to the Chinese people.

      Remember one of the shareholders a few years ago wanted to get Apple to stop wasting shareholder money on clean energy investments and renewablews. Tim Cook basically told him to screw off - if you wanted nothing but return on the dollar, invest elsewhere, because Apple, its other shareholders, and the board believe in these initiatives.

  8. Dont you get sick of lying Windy? by CaffeinatedBacon · · Score: 1

    America already uses far more coal for electricity per person than China does.
    Chinese coal plants produced 3,573 MT of CO2 in 2017
    American coal plants produced 1,056 MT of CO2 in 2017
    China has more than 4 times the population.

    Then there is President Trump trying to actually push coal. As opposed to your lies about China.

  9. Re:This is why I do not buy apple. by CaffeinatedBacon · · Score: 1

    And how much extra coal is China using? None it's using less than in 2013.

    And how much more coal electricity does an American use compared to a Chinese person? Lots.

    Looks like everyone is brighter than you.

  10. Here's a question... by slashmydots · · Score: 1

    Aren't their products made in Brazil's Foxconn factory, not China?

    1. Re:Here's a question... by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      Aren't their products made in Brazil's Foxconn factory, not China?

      No, the Latin American factories are actually to counter the import taxes in Latin American countries. These levies can amount to over 100%, making imported technology very expensive inside countries like Brazil. By making products inside Brazil, Apple bypasses those import duties thus making Apple products slightly cheaper.

  11. Re:What if by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

    What if Apple stopped producing gizmos and the factory's no longer ran and we all went back to talking in person.

    Traveling to talk in person generates a lot more CO2 and other pollutants than talking on the phone. It also takes a lot more time. There is a reason that productivity and living standards have increased over the last century: Technology.

  12. Re:What if by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

    This is a "gift" to Americans as much as it is to China, since we all share the same atmosphere.

    Chinese manufacturers have a higher energy intensity than America, so more CO2 can be eliminated for the same money if it is invested there. What Apple is doing makes sense, and is better for everyone.

  13. Re: This is why I do not buy apple. by WindBourne · · Score: 1

    http://www.mining.com/chinese-...

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
  14. Re: This is why I do not buy apple. by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    What has that to do with the topoic as in "pushing coal"?

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  15. Re: This is why I do not buy apple. by WindBourne · · Score: 1

    Hey moron, a nation that sells a lot more coal plants than they do renewables is NOT pushing renewables.
    And if you can not see that installing 700 new coal plants esp in nations that do not even have coal, shows a real lack of logic, and intelligence.

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
  16. Still more WindBourne lies by CaffeinatedBacon · · Score: 1
    Again with the anti China lies WindTroll.
    CoalSwarm

    Aiqun Yu, an analyst with CoalSwarm, a think tank that tracks coal-fired electricity generation globally, said that in just the past two years, the Chinese government has essentially cancelled or suspended some 444 gigawatts of new coal-fired generation capacity. The program has been enforced rigorously, she said, and to the point that several completed coal plants have been barred from hooking up to the transmission grid, effectively placing them in mothball status. The policy has pushed down the amount of new coal capacity coming online from 60 gigawatts in 2015 to 34 gigawatts in 2017—the lowest number in more than a decade.

  17. Re: This is why I do not buy apple. by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    Moron yourself: http://www.dictionary.com/brow..., or better: https://www.google.de/search?s...

    Hey moron, a nation that sells a lot more coal plants than they do renewables is NOT pushing renewables. If the customer wants a coal plant, the seller is not pushing coal plants but supplying the demand.

    And if you can not see that installing 700 new coal plants esp in nations that do not even have coal
    What has the question if a nation has coal to do with it? Were is _your_ logic and intelligence here?

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.