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Tempo 30 as the standard for inner cities?
An extension of the home office obligation could also reduce energy consumption
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Germany's dependence on oil, gas and coal from Russia is huge - and expensive.
In order to get out of this situation, the environmental organization Greenpeace proposes short-term measures.
According to a paper by the environmentalists, this also includes the introduction of a temporary speed limit related to the duration of the conflict: a maximum of 100 km/h on motorways, 80 km/h on country roads and a maximum speed limit in cities.
Consequence: The limitation could improve traffic flow, reduce consumption-intensive speed changes and increase the efficiency of combustion engines.
"Every tank filling, every delivery of heating oil flushes money into Putin's war chest," Greenpeace traffic expert Benjamin Stephan is quoted as saying.
"These intolerable financial aid for Putin's attack on Ukraine could be significantly reduced tomorrow."
According to the report, Greenpeace therefore also considers an import ban for Russian oil necessary in order to remove the financial basis for Russian President Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine.
The USA, among others, has already announced such a step, but they are also not as dependent on Russian energy as many European countries.
The federal government has so far rejected an embargo because of the great dependency, Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) warned of serious damage to Germany.
In addition to oil imports from other countries, however, further measures could be necessary to reduce consumption in the short term.
According to the report, Greenpeace is also considering extending the home office obligation that still applies – to reduce fuel consumption.
Car-free Sundays or doing without domestic flights are also being considered.
Colder homes can also reduce consumption
While a »speed limit for peace« seems at least argumentatively conclusive, despite all consideration for the pending political debates, it is questionable whether the same applies to »freezing for peace«.
According to the dpa, the think tank Agora Energiewende is also bringing this measure, which can be implemented in the short term, into play by consumers in order to reduce gas consumption in view of the dependence on Russian imports.
The Germany director of the organization, Simon Müller, said according to the news agency: "We assume that with optimized heating behavior, i.e. a reduction in room temperature by 1-2 degrees and optimized heating settings, the energy requirements of households by at least 10-15 percent can be reduced.«
In order to permanently break down the structural dependency on Russian gas imports for the heat supply, the installation of heat pumps, energy-related refurbishment and the connection to district heating would also have to be massively accelerated.
In the event of an energy embargo, the supply of natural gas is indeed likely to be the greatest challenge.
Russian imports accounted for 55 percent for Germany and 40 percent for Europe.
In the event of a complete halt to Russian natural gas deliveries, a further increase in liquid gas imports and a replenishment of natural gas storage facilities over the summer would be essential.
Will the VAT on energy be reduced after all?
Another problem is that the long-established high energy prices hit the poor even harder than the rich.
Not only because the latter may still be able to afford heating and refuelling.
The former often live in poorly insulated houses with outdated gas boilers and no heat pumps, or have to travel long distances to work in older, fuel-guzzling cars.
In other words: Your options for further waivers are limited.
The middle of society is now also feeling this.
This is probably one of the reasons why the debate about household relief due to the sharp rise in energy costs is picking up speed again.
In view of the skyrocketing fuel prices, the energy policy spokeswoman for the SPD parliamentary group, Nina Scheer, was also open to reducing the VAT for petrol from 19 to 7 percent, from which everyone would benefit.
"VAT reductions are also possible options," Scheer told the "Handelsblatt".
At the same time, there are still "relatively greater challenges in the heating market in view of the gas prices", which is why the dependence on fossil energies must be overcome quickly.
According to the newspaper, CSU consumer politician Volker Ullrich called for a reduction in VAT on electricity, gas and petrol to 7 percent.
The commuter allowance must also be increased further.
The traffic light coalition has already initiated some relief.
However, experts do not consider them sufficient.
apr/dpa
