Every little helps? Deutsche Bahn is offering its employees in Germany a bonus of at least 100 euros if they demonstrate efforts to try to help the international company save energy. 

Deutsche Bahn encourages employees to save energy

The biggest operator of long-distance travel in Germany - and the country’s largest electricity consumer - announced last week that it would be offering financial incentives to staff who tried to save energy at the workplace. The bonus will be paid out along with the employees’ regular salaries in December, and could be topped up to 150 euros if the company manages to meet its overall energy savings target.

The company’s 200.000 workers in Germany have been encouraged to think creatively about their energy-saving efforts, to “become active, to pull all small and large levers in order to achieve significant energy savings,” according to Deutsche Bahn HR Director Martin Seiler.

Seiler told dpa that efforts employees could make included reducing their use of lighting, heating and air conditioning, or using the stairs instead of lifts. “If 200.000 take part, we expect to make a significant contribution,” he said. 

Companies and public authorities in Germany look to cut energy usage

As Germany gears up to cut its natural gas consumption by 15 percent in response to significantly smaller deliveries from Russia, companies, cities and public authorities are looking for ways they can cut energy usage. Cities like Berlin, Hannover, Munich and Nuremberg announced recently that they were implementing various energy-saving measures like reducing the supply of hot water in public buildings and turning off spotlights on monuments at night.

Deutsche Bahn said that it was introducing other measures to save energy, including replacing fossil fuel-powered heating systems and turning off the exterior lighting on its “Bahn Tower” headquarters on Potsdamer Platz in Berlin.

The company is also looking at how other non-safety-related lighting can be scrapped at other buildings and stations. The company currently uses around 10 terawatt hours of electricity each year, making it the country’s biggest consumer.