Apple stock: Apple advances innovative technologies with green bonds worth billions

• Apple issues green bonds worth billions
• Proceeds from the issue will be invested in the development of clean energy and innovative technologies
• Supported projects apply to Apple itself

The trillion-dollar tech group Apple committed itself to more environmental protection years ago and, to this end, began issuing so-called green bonds in 2016, the proceeds of which are invested in the development of clean energies, which are then also used by Apple itself. Finally, under the leadership of Tim Cook, the company has set itself the goal of making the entire supply chain carbon neutral by 2030.

Green bonds first issued in 2016

Apple has issued three green bonds since 2016, the last of which was in 2019. According to iGruppen, the total volume of green bonds amounts to 4.7 billion US dollars, which flow into a wide variety of projects with the aim of reducing emissions and creating new, to develop clean technologies. Apple’s Vice President for Environment, Politics and Social Initiatives, Lisa Jackson, is quoted as saying in a press release on the subject: “Apple is committed to leaving the planet better than we found it, and our green bonds are a key tool to help Further advancing our environmental efforts Our investments drive breakthrough technologies needed to reduce the carbon footprint of the materials we use, even as we move towards using only recyclable and renewable materials in our products to conserve finite resources to preserve the earth”.

Three billion US dollars already awarded

As can be seen from the Green Bond Impact Report for the 2021 fiscal year, three billion US dollars of the bond volume are now allocated to specific projects. The amount still to be distributed comes exclusively from the green bond from 2019. Around 550 million US dollars have now been distributed to 50 projects, which belong to the areas of low-carbon design, energy efficiency, renewable energy, carbon efficiency and carbon sequestration. As the report shows, the 50 projects are expected to ultimately save 2.883 million tons of CO2, generate 1.854 million megawatt hours of clean energy annually and provide 699 megawatts of newly installed renewable energy capacity.

Aluminum production without CO2 emissions

An example of how green bonds are used in the Group’s practice was already evident in 2018 with the help of an investment partnership with Alcoa, Rio Tinto and the governments of Canada and Québec in the development of low-carbon aluminum. In 2019, a first batch of it was used for the MacBook Pros. In the meantime, the melting process for the industrial production of CO2-free aluminum has been further refined, so Apple recently announced that it wants to use the material for its recently updated iPhone SE models.

The company that produces the innovative process for producing aluminum without emitting carbon dioxide is called ELYSIS. “We’re excited to be working with Apple on this advance, which has the potential to make lasting changes to the way aluminum is produced,” CEO Vincent Christ said in a statement.

Wind farm powers Apple’s Danish data center

But the breakthrough with CO2-free aluminum is not the only success Apple has already achieved with the help of green bonds in relation to the targeted climate neutrality. Some of the green bonds have already been used to power Apple’s data center in the Danish city of Viborg using a wind farm, with the excess electricity being fed into the Danish grid. As the smartphone maker announced, it is also planning to further expand the operation of the data center and add the necessary infrastructure so that heat emitted by the center can be captured and used to the benefit of the city.

Now it only remains to be seen which innovative projects Apple will support in the future with the proceeds of its green bonds.

Editorial office finanzen.net

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