Apple's Product Use Electricity Strategy

Apple 2030: Our Commitment to Carbon Neutrality

Apple is committed to achieving carbon neutrality across its entire carbon footprint by the end of the decade. This involves a science-based plan to reduce scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions by 75 percent compared to 2015 levels, with remaining emissions balanced by high-quality carbon removal solutions. The strategy prioritizes decarbonizing materials, electricity, and transportation, focusing on drastic emission reductions before utilizing nature-based credits. Apple also aims for a 90 percent reduction in emissions from its 2015 baseline by 2050. For more information, visit apple.com/environment.

Introduction

In 2020, Apple achieved carbon neutrality for its corporate operations and set an ambitious goal for company-wide carbon neutrality by 2030. The journey involves a 75 percent reduction in emissions compared to 2015, with remaining emissions offset. A significant focus is on emissions tied to customer product use, estimated at 4.65 million metric tons of CO2e in 2023. By 2030, Apple aims to bring approximately 5 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy online globally to match customer electricity consumption. Product use emissions, defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP) as "emissions from the use of goods and services sold by the reporting company," are challenging due to their dispersed nature and limited visibility on customer electricity consumption. Apple is proactively addressing these emissions by considering existing guidance within the context of its product energy load.

Apple is sharing its approach to help create new industry best practices and contribute to the dialogue on corporate action for customer energy use. The strategy focuses on Apple's actions and engagement with stakeholders to support broader grid decarbonization. The scope 3 product use emissions strategy is centered on four key pillars:

• Improving product-level energy efficiency
• Supporting renewable electricity projects globally to maximize carbon impact, aiming to offset emissions from charging and powering devices
• Engaging customers to educate and provide opportunities to support grid decarbonization
• Advocating for energy policies that expedite renewable energy development and use worldwide

The Four Pillars of the Strategy are:

• ? Product Efficiency (Own Initiatives)
• ☀️? Renewable Electricity (Own Initiatives)
• ?? Customer Engagement (External Collaboration)
• ✔️ Policy Advocacy (External Collaboration)

Minimizing Carbon Emissions from Product Use

Making products more energy efficient is a core part of Apple's environmental strategy. This approach begins in the earliest design phases, considering software efficiency and component power requirements. Improvements are driven by product generations, such as the transition to Apple silicon, which enhances energy efficiency in Mac devices. For instance, the Apple TV 4K (3rd generation) uses nearly 30 percent less power than its predecessor while offering improved performance. Since 2008, Apple has reduced overall product energy use across major product lines by over 70 percent. Apple products consistently achieve ENERGY STAR ratings, reflecting their high energy efficiency, and meet EPEAT registration requirements. For example, the iPhone 15 uses 47 percent less energy than U.S. Department of Energy requirements for battery charger systems, and the Mac mini uses 72 percent less energy than the ENERGY STAR requirement.

Expanding Renewable Electricity Capacity

Apple's goal is to match 100 percent of its scope 3 product energy use with clean energy by 2030, maximizing the carbon impact of its solutions. This is achieved through directly owned projects, equity investments, and long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs). Apple was an early leader in the renewable energy transition, committing to 100 percent renewable energy for its business operations in 2013 and achieving it in 2018. The Supplier Clean Energy Program, launched in 2015, has led to over 320 suppliers committing to sourcing renewable electricity for Apple production. Scope 3 product use emissions are unique due to their mobile and geographically dispersed nature, necessitating a principle of geographic flexibility for maximizing carbon impact. Apple aims to bring an estimated 5 GW of renewable energy online by 2030. The company is exploring investments in renewable energy projects worldwide, prioritizing locations with higher grid carbon intensity to maximize carbon impact. This approach acknowledges that grid carbon intensity varies globally, allowing Apple to support projects that might not otherwise be developed without supportive policies. Investments also aim to advance social equity by creating jobs and reducing pollution in underserved communities. Apple has adopted a global internal selection procedure for its renewable energy projects, requiring environmental and social impact assessments, third-party reviews, and compliance with standards like the International Finance Corporation's (IFC's) Performance Standards.

To address product use electricity, Apple will first include residual grid mix where credible data exists. For the remaining electricity, the plan is to match 75 percent with renewable electricity from key regions (U.S., Europe, Asia Pacific), prioritizing subregional grids with the highest estimated carbon intensities. The remaining 25 percent will be invested flexibly to maximize carbon, social, and other project impacts. The goal is to match 100 percent of total gigawatt-hours required for scope 3 product use with clean electricity, optimizing for overall positive climate impact.

A world map illustrates estimated project impact per megawatt-hour, with darker shades indicating higher carbon intensity, suggesting areas where renewable projects can have a greater carbon avoidance impact. This map considers factors like operating margin and build margin, which represent the emissions displaced by existing power plants and the emissions avoided from new capacity construction, respectively.

The modeling of impact involves calculating the estimated carbon impact and avoided emissions rate using the equation: New Project Avoided Emissions Rate = w (Build Margin) + (1 – w) (Operating Margin), where 'w' is a weight between 0 and 1. Apple is actively involved in research and industry collaborations to refine methodologies for calculating marginal emission factors and achieve industry-wide consensus.

The transition toward a global clean energy grid is crucial. Apple recognizes that not all megawatt-hours are equal in terms of carbon impact and supports considering temporal granularity, such as hourly loads and generation. The company's strategy includes engaging users to shift their electric demand to times when energy is cleaner, supporting the decarbonization of the grid. While 24/7 clean energy is a long-term objective, Apple is committed to bringing as much renewable energy online as possible and paying attention to hourly emission effects to mitigate all carbon.

Engaging with Customers on Energy Use

Apple empowers customers to address emissions from electricity used to power or charge its devices, contributing to grid decarbonization. While Apple devices represent a small fraction of a household's carbon footprint, matching device emissions with renewable energy is an entry point to helping customers reduce their overall household emissions. Many consumers are concerned about their environmental impact, and Apple is committed to empowering them to participate in carbon reduction.

In fall 2022, Apple launched Clean Energy Charging for iPhone in the contiguous U.S. This feature allows iPhone users to charge their devices when renewable resources are available and the grid is cleaner. The system forecasts carbon emissions in the user's local energy grid and uses this information to charge during times of cleaner energy production. This feature exemplifies how customers can shift their load to times when cleaner energy generates fewer emissions.

Apple is also focusing on home energy as a significant area for customer engagement. In fall 2023, the Home app introduced an Energy category featuring the Grid Forecast. This feature helps users understand when shifting their electricity use can lower carbon emissions by showing when cleaner energy sources are available on the grid. Grid Forecast utilizes WattTime marginal emissions and curtailment data and is available on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. Screenshots from the Home app illustrate the 'Grid Forecast' indicating cleaner energy availability and 'Electricity Usage' details, empowering users to manage their energy consumption.

Grid Forecast is an initial step in helping customers understand the importance of when electricity is used. By making the Energy category more personal and actionable through partnerships with utilities, Apple aims to provide users with insights into their home electricity usage, rate plans, and rooftop solar generation. This information will be accessible via the Home app, widgets, and Apple Watch complications. Utilities play a critical role in the transition to a decarbonized electricity grid, and Apple is working with utility partners to integrate customer utility information into personalized home energy management experiences.

Advocating for Supportive Policies

Grid decarbonization requires fundamental transformation of the electricity sector, necessitating significant policy change. Apple supports policies that remove barriers to renewable deployment and have far-reaching impacts on emissions from electricity use. The company advocated for tripling global renewable energy capacity to 11,000 GW by 2030. Key market support mechanisms for increasing renewable energy deployment include creating a level playing field, providing financial incentives and tax credits, improving access to financing, investing in grid infrastructure, establishing deployment targets, and developing transparent systems for environmental attribute certificates.

Apple supports grid decarbonization efforts in the U.S., including EPA rules to decrease the carbon intensity of grid resources. In markets like Korea and Japan, Apple has advocated for higher renewable energy targets in national energy plans and for more competitive renewable energy markets.

Critical policy areas for driving global grid decarbonization progress include:

• Transmission: Advocating for increased transmission capacity and grid-enhancing technologies to expedite interconnection processes, as wait times can be up to four years. Improved transmission enhances grid resilience and reliability.
• Load flexibility: Encouraging customers to reduce and shift electricity demand to off-peak times when renewables are more available. This helps balance the grid, reduces reliance on peak fossil fuel generation, and supports a cost-effective transition to deep grid decarbonization. Policies supporting distributed energy resources (DERs) and dynamic tariff plans are key.
• Standards: Supporting standards like Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) and grid carbon reduction standards to drive renewable adoption and create stable frameworks for corporate investment.
• Data access and quality: Promoting policies that ensure the availability of accurate emissions and customer usage data, supported by advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and smart meters. This empowers customers to reduce emissions and save money, while unlocking innovation for energy management solutions.

These policy opportunities help level the playing field for renewable electricity, driving grid decarbonization and mitigating climate change impacts.

Conclusion

Apple's product use initiative aims to create a significant impact by improving product efficiency and investing in renewable projects. Through collaboration, the company believes it can achieve even more. By sharing its product use approach, Apple hopes to contribute to industry learning and the development of innovative initiatives for decarbonizing global grids. The company's efforts to help customers use energy more efficiently are expanding beyond device charging to include overall household electricity use. Advocating for supportive policies further contributes to creating the necessary conditions for a clean energy transition.