“German coal and power producer RWE AG, weathering the worst rout for the country’s electricity market in over a decade, is turning to Apple Inc. and International Business Machines Corp. to help shave costs,” Naureen Malik reports for Bloomberg. “[RWE] produces as much as 100 million tons of coal a year.”
“Field workers at RWE’s Hambach coal mine started using software on Apple iPad mini devices in December,” Malik reports. “They’re already saving 30 minutes a day by cutting down on paperwork, said Andreas Lamken, chief information officer of RWE’s generation unit. The company has deployed a ‘couple hundred’ of the handheld tablets and plans to distribute more at its two other mines and then to utility workers in the coming months, with a goal of reaching as many as a thousand, he said.”
“RWE is contracting the services of a partnership between IBM and Apple as utilities in Europe’s biggest power market suffer from the lowest power prices since 2002. An unprecedented shift to renewable energy, fed into the grid preferably, is squeezing the margins at traditional plants burning coal, gas and nuclear. It presents a business opportunity for the two tech giants whose partnership had never had an energy and utility customer before RWE,” Malik reports. “[RWE’s] Hambach mine has a surface area of 30 square kilometers.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Smart companies use Apple products.
SEE ALSO:
SAP: Apple’s Macintosh is key for any modern enterprise – February 4, 2016
Apple blew past Microsoft in personal computer shipments in 2015 – January 12, 2016
Apple Inc., the enterprise IT company – December 15, 2015
Tim Bajarin: Within three to five years, Windows will be an afterthought – November 24, 2015
IBM: Every Mac we buy is making and saving us money – October 28, 2015
Now we know why IT support hates Macs (hint: Windows PCs = job security) – October 19, 2015
IBM: Corporate Mac users need less IT support than those stuck on Windows – October 18, 2015
Just 5% of Mac users at IBM need help desk support vs. 40% of Windows PC sufferers – October 15, 2015
Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ ultimate goal: ‘to take back the computer business from Microsoft’ – June 16, 2005
iPhone, killer – May 13, 2015
In the last five years, Microsoft’s share of personal computing plummeted from 90% to 32% – October 10, 2013
Apple Macintosh owns 45% of PC market profits – April 16, 2013
Apple on pace to overtake Windows in platform war within two years – July 6, 2012
Apple has destroyed the Windows hegemony – July 5, 2012
By year end, both of these two OSes will be bigger than Windows – June 28, 2012
Apple’s Mac business generates more revenue than Windows – September 29, 2011
Companies need to get ready for Apple iPhone onslaught – June 19, 2007
Lookout for an article from Forbes entitled, “Unlike Samsung, Apple sell’s its product to dirty coal companies”.
Fire Tim Cook!
For those that need it…../s
Renewable energy drives power prices down. Damn, who’d have thought that. Hey, RWG, you can’t save yourselves by cutting prices on your buggy whips.
Actually its fracking and Nat Gas that drive the prices down (that’s where the power comes from when it gets dark out). Even environmental advocates like me must acknowledge that the availability of cheap nat gas — to make power when the sun is unavailable — is what makes solar power possible. I realize that this inconvenient truth will bring on a lot of flame from people who don’t want to believe it. So go ahead, bring it on. But if you choose to flame me for stating a fact, at least tell me where you think electric power comes from when it gets dark and the wind is not blowing. BTW I am an advocate for all green technologies. I am just not a hater of nat gas and not a hater of energy that is affordable for everyone.
Just taking a cue from the actual article i.e. “squeezing the margins at traditional plants burning coal, gas and nuclear”. I’m thinking Germany isn’t so much into fracking as the US. They’re a pretty small country, so they just can’t screw part of it up and move somewhere else.
Also, read up on Teslas PowerWall. (hint: Charge it up when the Sun is out, use the stored energy when it’s dark out. Pretty slick solution to the Earths rotation, don’t you think?) The end of fossil fuels is near. Actually, not the end, just a much more judicious use for situations where there aren’t other good options.
Sorry the energy market is a global one. When the US is fracking and using natural gas, our demand for oil lowers, and so do prices all over the world. I’m all for green energy, but like “Jus Sayin”, I am pragmatic also. It will be quite a while before we are completely weaned off fossil fuels. You must realize that as demand for fossil fuels goes down, price goes down, which in turn make using fossil fuels more and more attractive. Thus, they will be with us for quite a while longer. We just need to stay the course and increase green energy use and decrease green energy cost. Eventually this will win out.
What’s this? They’re using iPads as handle-less shovels to remove coal in smaller tunnels? I’m sure it’s already been said the Apple/IBM union isn’t going to help either company make any gains against rivals.
/s
Great, all the time and money they save can go towards supporting a million more layabout “refugees”.
If they can save money in Germany’s Coal Mines using Apple’s iPad, then more power to them. And I for one am a Coal supporter plus other Renewable energy sources. We need to use whatever is available. Just my opinion!