by Kaleigh Potter
Have you ever plugged in your phone to see a message saying that your phone was using clean energy charging? Here’s what that means:
In October of 2022, Apple released the Clean Energy Charging feature with its iOS 16.1 update. It’s entirely optional to use and helps reduce the environmental impact of energy use and demand! Using previously tracked data about your charging habits, your device will limit charging to specific times during your usual cycle when production is cleaner at your local energy grid. Don’t worry though, it won’t hurt your battery or keep you from using your phone. This charging happens at times when energy is cleanest and your use is lowest, like when you’re sleeping. That being said, the feature also uses location services and won’t turn on if you’re traveling or out of your habitual areas, so you won’t get stranded with a dead phone!
So how exactly is this charging cleaner? Well, throughout the day the demand for energy fluctuates, which means energy needs to be pulled from more sources at peak times. If your town uses hydroelectric power for example, when demand is high, they might supplement that extra need with natural gas power plants. With clean energy charging is on, your device finds times of low energy demand and cleaner energy sources and charges during those periods!