A round-up of business news, including Iberdrola, Scottish Power and Apple.
Iberdrola, which owns ScottishPower, is to invest €24bn over the next four years, one-third of which will be spent on renewables. Around 35% will be invested in the UK, mainly in transmission and distribution infrastructure, and in increasing its renewable capacity – with the commissioning of 1,070MW of offshore and 450MW of onshore wind power. Iberdrola has pledged to reduce group emissions, which now stand 30% below the European industry average, by a further 50% by 2030, with the company becoming carbon-neutral by 2050.
Apple has issued bonds worth $1.5bn to fund clean energy projects across its operations. It is the largest ‘green’ bond to be issued by a US corporation and the money will be used to finance renewable energy, energy storage and energy efficiency projects, green buildings and resource conservation efforts. Lisa Jackson, vice-president of environment, policy and social initiatives, told Reuters: ‘This will allow investors to show they will put their money where their hearts and concerns are.’
Yorkshire Water is to invest £318m over the next 12 months to tackle the challenges posed by climate change, a growing population, and ageing infrastructure. The money will be spent on improving water and sewerage services, including drinking water quality and wastewater treatment, as well as measures to conserve moorland, protect the environment from flooding and improve rivers.
Twenty companies in Italy’s oldest textile district and Europe’s largest Prato have pledged to adopt the hazardous chemical elimination standard, Detox. The companies supply fashion brands, including Gucci, Prada and Armani, and Confindustria Toscana Nord will oversee the regional adoption of the standard.
Energy and climate change secretary Amber Rudd has given Palm Paper the go-ahead to build a 162MW combined cycle gas turbine power plant at its paper mill in King’s Lynn. The company, a subsidiary of Germany based Papierfabrik Palm, said the plant would replace two package boilers and reduce the mill’s overall CO2 emissions per unit of electricity or steam generated (carbon intensity).
