Apple has reached the top spot on a scorecard for which tech companies are most environmentally friendly. The list, which is compiled by environmental organization Greenpeace, saw Apple receive the top ‘A’ grade on the report’s Company Scorecard for the third year in a row.
Titled Clicking Clean: Who is Winning the Race to Build a Green Internet, the report sees Apple place ahead of companies like Google and Facebook. Though both of those also received an A grade, their Clean Energy Index was 56 and 67 percent respectively, while Apple’s was 83 percent, the highest in the list.
Other major tech companies like Microsoft received a B grade, while HP, IBM, and Amazon received a C. At the other end of the scale, Tencent, a Chinese internet investment company, scored an F.
Of Apple, the report says:
“Apple has remained among the most aggressive in the sector in its efforts to power its online platform with renewable energy. Apple continues to play an important role in opening access to renewable energy new markets where it has located its data centers, such as the company’s most recent data center in Arizona. Apple has also played a catalytic role within its IT supply chain, pushing other IT data center and cloud operators who help deliver pieces of Apple’s corner of the internet to follow their lead in powering their operations with renewable energy, though with slower success than its own data centers thus far.”
The scorecard was made up of a series of points, including energy transparency, renewable procurement, energy efficiency, mitigation, and advocacy. Apple scored an A for all points except Advocacy, where it scored a B. The report notes on this point that:
“While Apple had some success in getting its colocation suppliers to provide a renewable hosting service, its recent decision to significantly expand its reliance on Dupont Fabros Technology infrastructure in both Chicago and Virginia seem to be a step in the wrong direction.”
The report praises Apple for playing a role in establishing a Green Tariff program in Nevada, as well as being one of few companies investing in renewable energy in China.
The full report can be read online here.