Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) efforts to become energy efficient have paid off. In its recently released Environmental Responsibility Report 2014, the huge consumer electronics company reported it had reduced overall energy consumption by 58% since 2008. And Apple believes it can do even better, although in doing so, its suppliers are its major problem.

Apple broke its primary efforts into three pieces:

• Reduce our impact on climate change by using renewable energy sources and driving
  energy efficiency in our products.
• Pioneer the use of greener materials in our products and processes.
• Conserve precious resources so we all can thrive.

Much of this is based on its efforts to recycle products, like the ones it takes back for free at its retail stores. However, others are related to a sophisticated ability to monitor energy use. What it cannot measure, Apple reasons, it cannot control. As it describes the process:

We take a rigorous approach to measuring our environmental impact. In fact, we know of no other company in our industry that goes so far in measuring, verifying, and disclosing its carbon emissions. Instead of reporting just the carbon footprint of the facilities we own, we also include the carbon footprint of our supply chain.

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In the process of improvement, Apple hopes to make many of its facilities use recyclable energy entirely, which would be a coup for a company with its size and scope of operations. Apple uses specific examples of many of its largest facilities to illustrate the success of its energy programs, and it adds to this details about how its products themselves are more energy efficient than many others. Part of the reasoning is that the smartphones and tablets it sells often replace computers, which are not particularly energy efficient. It is a claim based more on customer interest than on anything Apple does on its own.

The weakness as it moves toward its goal is not so much due to Apple, but its suppliers, which it can only control by controlling the business it offers them. And, without offering solutions, Apple admitted as much:

Carbon emissions from our manufacturing partners remain the largest portion of our carbon footprint, an area we’re committed to addressing.

Of course, some manufacturers have such large capacity that Apple cannot help using them to fulfill customer demand. However, its claim to be “green” will be undermined somewhat if its suppliers are major polluters.

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