It’s using three times as much “clean electricity” now as it did in 2020, Apple said today. It’s part of the company’s commitment to become carbon neutral across its operations and supply chain by 2030. By the same date, Apple also plans to replenish fresh water it uses in drought-stressed areas — spending $8 million on that task since 2023.
The European Space Agency plans to find out with a project called Solaris. Scientists and engineers have been trying to figure out how to make space-based solar power work since the 1960s. And the rise of the commercial space industry is finally bringing launch costs down enough to really put the technology to the test.
Newsweek notes that renewable energy hit a milestone in California, meeting 100 percent of the state’s electricity demand for up to 6 hours nearly every day of the past month.
There’s obviously still a lot of progress needed to hit the state’s goal of running entirely on carbon-free electricity by 2045, but Stanford engineering professor Mark Jacobson says this is a sign that California is well on its way there.
That includes chemicals used to make rubber, sterilize medical equipment, and more. The new regulations are expected to slash releases of smog-forming volatile organic compounds by 23,700 tons annually, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This is a big deal for communities bordering industrial facilities, including Louisiana’s Cancer Alley.
