Environmental campaigners attacked Apple’s flagship London store yesterday in a protest over the type of energy the company relies on. Greenpeace claims that over half the energy the technology giant uses to power its online storage facility, the iCloud, comes from coal-powered plant.
As well as harassing customers about the giant’s energy use, activists plastered the central London store’s front window with an imitation advert which read: “iCloud. Pollution. Automatic. Everywhere.”
Greenpeace’s “How Clean is Your Cloud?” report claims that if the ‘cloud’ were a country, its electricity demand would rank 5th in the world and is expected to triple by 2020.
Jim Footner Senior Energy Campaigner at Greenpeace said: “Apple is a worldwide brand that is renowned for its innovative products that have set the agenda for computers and telecommunications in recent decades, with an immensely loyal customer base. Many of their customers will be surprised and shocked that Apple is using coal to power the icloud.”
ELN approached Apple for a comment, but no one was available.