Apple is the greenest tech company in the world, according to Greenpeace

Apple has been lauded by Greenpeace as the world's most environmentally big technology company, Mac Rumors reports - beating out Facebook, Google, and Microsoft for the top spot.

Under CEO Tim Cook, the Cupertino company has made a major push to become environmentally friendly, committing to drawing 100% of its energy from renewable sources over the long-term.

This year the company has began work on two solar-powered data centres in Ireland and Denmark, and it is also constructing two major solar power projects in China's Sichuan province.

Apple is frequently celebrated for these environmental efforts - so much so that Fortune claims that "consumers believe that Apple is greener than it actually is."

Greenpeace's new "Clicking Clean" report on Internet companies gives Apple top "AAAA" marks, citing the companies "aggressive pursuit to power the iCloud with 100% renewable energy," saying it "[illustrates] in very concrete terms that a 100% renewable internet is within its reach."

After Apple comes Facebook, which has seen "radical improvements in transparency and efforts to deliver significant wind energy investment." At #3 is Google, "A leader within the sector of the deployment of renewable energy."

Here's Greenpeace's "scorecard" ranking the internet companies on various criteria:

Apple has also recently committed to preserving 1 million acres of Chinese forest for sustainable harvesting. China is the most polluting country in the world, but is also an increasingly important market for Apple.

Here's a link to the full report from Greenpeace »