Berlin Against the background of the Ukraine war, the Germans are to save energy with immediate effect. “I ask everyone to make a contribution to saving energy now,” said Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck to the newspapers of the Funke media group. “As a rule of thumb, I would say: Saving ten percent is always possible.”

Habeck announced a corresponding government campaign: “We can only become more independent of Russian imports if we see it as a large joint project in which we all participate.”

If possible, employers should offer home office on a voluntary basis to save energy. You can first work from home one or two days a week, as you did during the pandemic.

In addition, you can leave the car over Easter and use the train or bicycle. “It’s easy on the wallet and annoys Putin.” Every kilometer not driven is a contribution to making it easier to get away from Russian energy supplies and at the same time protecting the climate.

The Economy Minister gave further advice on personal conduct. “If you heat the apartment and draw the curtains in the evening, you save up to five percent of energy,” he said. If you lower the room temperature by one degree, it is around six percent.

The federal government is preparing for all possible scenarios in the energy supply. A situation with supply bottlenecks and the shutdown of industrial plants is an “economic policy nightmare”. “Then we don’t talk about ‘freezing for freedom’ or a warmer sweater for three days. We will then talk about massive slumps in the German economic cycle.” That is why everything will be done to avoid that.

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