Politicians are rushing to find ways to replace the gas and oil that has come – and is still coming – from Russia.

The question of how energy can be saved or used more efficiently has so far played a subordinate role in the debate.

But that is changing.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has now told the television station ZDF that everyone can contribute to becoming less dependent on Russian gas.

She left open what that means in concrete terms.

Anna Lena Niemann

Editor in Business.

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The environmental organization Greenpeace, on the other hand, has presented concrete ideas aimed at reducing imports of fossil fuels from Russia quickly and in the short term – above all oil.

"Every tank filling, every delivery of heating oil flushes money into Putin's war chest," said Benjamin Stephan of Greenpeace of the dpa news agency.

According to Stephan, this can be “significantly reduced as early as tomorrow”.

Especially when it comes to mineral oil products, consumers can definitely exert a direct influence.

Almost 72 percent of the raw material in Germany is used in traffic.

Another 17 percent end up in the heating systems of local households.

Greenpeace says Germany would have to import 10 to 12 percent less oil or oil products if its ten-point plan were to be followed.

For example, it provides for the home office obligation to be extended because fewer commuters would also need less fuel for their cars.

A ban on domestic flights can be found in the paper, as well as two ideas that are already known from the 1973 oil crisis: car-free Sundays and a temporary speed limit on German roads.

100 km/h would be the limit on the motorway, 80 km/h on country roads and 30 km/h at most in the cities.

The effect of the individual measures is small

That's how it was at the height of the last oil crisis.

At that time, a large majority of the population agreed to the restrictions, and there were hardly any violations to report.

However, the effect was rather small.

In December 1973, when most cars had to stand still on Sundays and the speed limit was the same as what Greenpeace is demanding today, the country still needed 1.332 million tons of petrol.

In the same month a year earlier it was 1.495 million tons.

The country actually saved, but not really significantly.

Michael Krail, who deals with mobility issues at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, points out that one should not expect too much from such measures in detail.

Nevertheless, he says: "The combination of all these measures together with the behavioral changes caused by the increased energy prices will have a noticeable effect."

Two degrees less in the house can make a big difference

Such ideas can actually be implemented in the short term.

Point seven on the Greenpeace list is different.

He calls for more freight traffic to be brought onto the rails.

The share of freight transport by rail has been stagnating for years.

The capacities are tight.

Without large and long-term investments in the infrastructure, it is questionable whether this will change.

According to the will of the politicians, the market share of the rail freight company is to increase by six percentage points, to 25 percent.

This goal was formulated long before the current crisis.

But the schedule is crucial.

And so far it has been: Please by the end of the decade.

What, on the other hand, does not take a decade, just a few steps to the thermostat, is the appeal to citizens to voluntarily forgo one or two degrees of room temperature.

Many are likely to do so because of the rise in energy prices.

After all, around half of households heat with natural gas and a quarter with oil.

Christian Stolte, Head of Climate Neutral Buildings at the German Energy Agency (Dena), confirms that two degrees can make a big difference.

You save 8 to 10 percent of energy over the entire heating period.

However, Stolte points out that a large part of the heating period is already over.

He says: “Five sixths are already 'burnt out'.

It is only from this remaining sixth that the 8 to 10 percent can now be saved in the short term.” That is good and makes sense, says the expert.

"But the effect is limited."

Stolte is also not very optimistic when it comes to the last point in the Greenpeace plan: to install half a million heat pumps in 2022 to replace gas and oil heating.

For this to happen, the already strong growth rates of the past year would have to triple again.

This is hardly conceivable without even higher subsidies, special programs or regulatory intervention.

Quite apart from the shortage of skilled workers.

In the end, the bike instead of the car and the second winter sweater over the first seem to be the quicker ways each individual can save a few liters of Russian fuel.