DDeutsche Bahn is satisfied with the energy-saving efforts of its employees and will pay them a tax and duty-free bonus of 150 euros in December. “Just in time for Christmas, we are rewarding the many suggestions and effective measures from our employees to save energy in these challenging times,” said Group Chief Human Resources Officer Martin Seiler on Wednesday. At selected locations, the savings in the past few months have been around ten percent compared to the same period last year, it said.
In August, Deutsche Bahn called on employees to submit suggestions on how energy could be saved and initially promised all employees a bonus of 100 euros each. If the measures are particularly successful, there should be an additional 50 euros.
Around 1,500 suggestions had been received from the workforce, the railway now announced. “Some reduce the number of active screens and video calls and share printers and scanners across departments,” it said. “Others switch off superfluous lighting, for example when trains are running empty and in areas of factory buildings where no work is currently being done, or install lights with motion detectors in changing rooms and corridors.” Optimizing heating and ventilation also plays a role.
With around 10 terawatt hours of annual consumption, the railways are the largest consumer of electricity in Germany. According to the annual report, natural gas accounted for more than six percent of the electricity mix last year. More than 20 percent was obtained from lignite and hard coal. The share of renewable energies was around 62 percent.
