You may be wondering how you can contribute to lowering your overall carbon impact. You may use fewer disposable home products, buy eco-friendly items instead, or drive an electric vehicle instead of a gas vehicle — there are numerous methods to help.
However, if you have an iPhone running iOS 16.1 or higher, you are already contributing thanks to a new feature called Clean Energy Charging, which Apple introduced. Here’s everything you need to know about this environmentally friendly charging method.
The iPhone Clean Energy Charging function is a relatively new addition to iOS 16.1. So if you have a compatible iPhone running iOS 16 and live in the United States, you already have this feature. Unfortunately, it only works in the United States — if you’re not in the United States, this isn’t available, and it’s unclear when it will be.
Clean Energy Charging reduces your carbon footprint by charging only when lower-carbon-emission electricity is available. When your iPhone is hooked in, it will receive a forecast of your local energy grid’s carbon emissions. With this energy grid forecast, it will charge the iPhone during times of “cleaner energy production.”
When we say “cleaner energy production,” we mean using solar or wind whenever possible. If those sources are unavailable, charging will pause and then restart when the clean electricity source becomes available.
If you absolutely need to charge, you can override the setting – a prompt appears informing you that charging is halted when a clean energy source isn’t available, but the prompt also has a Charge Now option to resume charging.
Clean Energy Charging works in conjunction with Optimized Battery Charging to learn your charging behaviors and trends. Clean Energy Charging is only available where you spend the most of your time, such as at home or work.
It will not function if your charging habits are inconsistent or if you travel frequently. This makes sense because those scenarios necessitate getting a charge as soon as feasible.
Though Apple claims that Clean Energy Charging works in tandem with Optimized Battery Charging, the two are not the same. Optimized Battery Charging extends the life of your iPhone’s battery by learning your charging patterns and deferring charging past 80% until you need it.
If you live in the United States and have iOS 16.1 installed on your iPhone, the Clean Energy Charging function is enabled by default. However, some settings are required for the best results.
Some location settings must be enabled for this feature to learn your charging habits, such as where you spend the most time and how frequently you charge your iPhone for longer periods of time. Location Services, System Customization, and Significant Locations are the specific settings.
To enable these options, follow these steps:
Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > On Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > System Services > System Customization > ON Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > System Services > Significant Location > ON Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > System Services > Significant Location > ON
If not all of those options are enabled, it is not assured that the Clean Energy Charging feature will function properly or at all.
Location data is not transferred to Apple or other parties because it is only saved locally on your iPhone.
Again, if your iPhone is running iOS 16.1 or later and you live in the United States, this option is enabled by default. If you prefer, you may turn it off at any time.
To turn off Clean Energy Charging, navigate to Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging > OFF. When you turn the toggle to off, a prompt will appear asking if you want to Turn Off Until Tomorrow or Turn Off Completely — choose your preference.
When the feature is turned off, your phone will continue to charge even if a cleaner energy source is not available or the demand on the power grid is currently high.
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