Microsoft vs. Apple Still Making Headlines — in Renewable Energy

New Hampshire, USA -- Microsoft vs. Apple wars have played out in the electronics industry for decades. That bitter competitive landscape, though, has changed significantly in this digital age with Apple's iUbiquity.

But they're still visibly competitive in another arena: both are among the top users of renewable energy according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). And in the past few days they've been trading headlines again.

Microsoft Buys Into Wind Power for Data Center Ops

Microsoft buys more than 1.9 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of renewable energy credits (RECs) annually, according to the EPA, and last year the computer giant pledged to become carbon-neutral. Part of that is reducing energy consumption in facilities and data centers — and powering them with renewable energy.

To that end, yesterday Microsoft announced its first long-term power purchase agreement (PPA), a 20-year contract to buy all the energy produced from RES Americas' 110-MW Keechi Wind project northwest of Fort Worth, Texas to be built next year and operational in 2015. That energy will go into the grid to help power the company's data center in nearby San Antonio, which already uses recycled wastewater for cooling. "We have a long-standing ambition to move in the direction of sourcing more clean energy as a company," stated Rob Bernard, Microsoft's chief environmental strategist, and "this is an opportunity to go to the next stage and invest directly in green energy."

Microsoft's demonstrating its support for renewable energy at other U.S. facilities as well. Its Silicon Valley campus has a solar power system that offsets 15 percent of its energy needs, a data center in Quincy, Washington gets 83 percent of its electricity from local hydropower, and another data center being built in Wyoming will house fuel cells powered by biogas from a nearby water treatment plant to be completely "zero-carbon."

Of course this isn't the first data center to embrace renewable energy. Naturally, Apple has been doing it for a while, too. And so has Google.

Apple Antes Up for Ex-First Solar Plant

Meanwhile, Apple is making a splash on another front, reportedly ponying up more than $500 million in a new supply deal for a key supplier. GT Advanced Technologies revealed yesterday that it's entered into a multi-year supply agreement with Apple to provide sapphire material, which is used to make the tougher, scratch-resistant camera lens on newer iPhones (and perhaps eventually the entire screen surface in the future, but that's still up for debate). The deal apparently involves production out of a "new" manufacturing facility in Mesa, Arizona, to employ anywhere from 700 to 1,300 workers and an "investment in renewable energy," according to Gov. Jan Brewer.

Technically, though, it isn't a brand-new facility — it's First Solar's former plant, which the company built out but never used and then sold off last month on the cheap. The site includes a 3.3-MW (AC) rooftop PV array; reports indicate the plant will be entirely powered by renewable energy, through both solar and possibly geothermal. Apple and GT confirmed the news but wouldn't offer details about the site itself or plans to expand the solar power generation; nor would the utility they're working with, Salt River Project.

It's worth noting that on the EPA's renewable-energy radar both Microsoft and Apple trail well behind Intel, which buys 3.1 billion kWh annually in RECs sourced from wind, solar, geothermal, low impact hydro, and biomass, as well as a small amount of on-site solar (7 MW and growing). Google, meanwhile, hasn't been on the EPA's lists since mid-2012.

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Energy costs: Why is Grandma still in her chair?

Grandma was thrown out of her wheelchair and off a cliff in one of the most controversial ads of the US presidential election 2012. Whether you love or hate the clip, the Medicare after Republicans, it shows the emotional tenor, we bring to the debate about the cost of health care.

Energy costs also affect at least as much - and all other granny. Still we rarely devote such time and passion on the subject - except if gasoline prices spike. Even then, the conversation is limited. We are accustomed to the higher costs. Keep in mind how you hear little grumbling now $3$ 4 per gallon gasoline is the new normal.

Why make a big deal about the economics of health care and the economy energy? Since we don't do the math. That's what a new report from United Technologies Corp. revealed.

For example, few realize that we turn the same amount each year, our houses, shops and offices spend $432 billion - as companies give out health insurance.

"It's on the level, which is noteworthy because it speaks to where we can go," said John Mandyck, chief sustainability officer for UTC climate, control and security, in an interview.

Where UTC sees us is located in the direction of saving through energy efficiency, which opens the way to providing the additional capital for other personal or investment purposes.

"Unlocking American efficiency: economic and commercial power investment in energy-efficient buildings," looks to make the economy more efficient 30 percent U.S. until 2030 building. Here, a few striking points for our finances are the report that this could mean power over what.

A 30-percent stake in building efficiency brings a 28.6 per cent of internal rate of return over 10 years. That is about four times better than the average corporate bond yield or average equity performance and more than double the yields on high-performance could save about $466 per year venture capital Firmen.Haushalte – twice as much as average spending for fresh vegetables and almost spend as much as they are for prescription and non-prescription drugs.To amortize the cost of modernising government, would the United States approximately 8 billion $ save per year in energy costs. How useful is it? This is more than a decade as much savings as we reach could, by increasing the Medicare retirement age to 67, increasing taxes a percent for top earners or taxation of foreign profits of U.S. companies. It's about protection agency who also so much as we would save by eliminating environmental.
Here is another way to save energy consider. Think of the reduction in energy costs as a way to increase the income of private households, the report said. We learn a lot about the decline of middle-class salaries. Level had remained since 2000 energy costs, she would have made the average decline in the incomes of private households.

Thinking about energy costs in this way the problem converted "Issues with an opportunity," said Mandyck. It offers the possibility to check how we can "once again provide that cash in other ways."

It makes sense for the United States to pursue this line of thought with more emphasis. As a share of GDP energy costs according to the report by 6.2 percent, rose to 9.2 percent in the last decade. And we can expect energy costs, 17 percent more in the next two decades will rise according to the International Energy Agency.

Ultimately the UTC energy efficiency story about us to hold more of our own money and its use in other productive ways. Grandma's wheelchair must not be operated by a heartless force beyond her control, that sends her over a cliff. Embed motorized their own more energy efficiency in the economy and Granny can, make self propelled wheelchair and go where it wants to go.

ELISA Wood is a long-time energy writer, CNN, the New York Times, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal online and the Washington Post whose work has been picked. Find their articles at RealEnergyWriters.com

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