Deutsche Bahn accelerates climate neutral target
Posted: 17 June 2021 | Global Railway Review | No comments yet
DB has committed to becoming climate-neutral 10 years earlier through green electricity, lower carbon emissions through younger fleets and the use of alternative fuels.
C: DB
Deutsche Bahn (DB) is bringing its climate neutrality target forward by 10 years – to 2040. The new target includes all areas of the railway in Germany, as well as the global logistics subsidiary, DB Schenker.
To achieve the new 2040 goal, DB will fully supply its plants, office buildings and train stations in Germany with green electricity from 2025. In addition, the heat supply will be ‘greened’ and fossil fuels such as heating oil and natural gas will be gradually replaced. A higher energy efficiency should also ensure lower consumption in the coming years.
Less CO2 will be emitted through significantly younger train fleets in long-distance, regional and freight transport and through investments in operations.
Deutsche Bahn also wants to achieve climate neutrality by 2040 by promoting alternative drives and fuels. Technology-open pilot projects, together with partners from industry, will also focus on greener local transport by road and rail. Plans include converting DB Regio’s bus fleet to more climate-friendly fuels, building new infrastructures for battery-powered trains, supplying fuel cell trains with hydrogen and using synthetic fuels on road and rail.
“Sustainability is our brand essence, which is why we are setting ourselves much more ambitious goals for climate protection. Personally, it is particularly important for me to make even faster progress,” commented CEO of DB, Dr. Richard Lutz.
“Our interim balance underlines the enormous potential of the railways: In a comparison of the modes of transport in Germany, the railroad is the only one with a consistently positive climate balance since 1990. In the past 30 years, the railways alone have been able to significantly reduce their CO2 emissions by around 70 per cent. Travelling by train is active climate protection. And that is why the investment and modernisation offensive of our Strong Rail strategy is exactly the right way to organise modal shift and to achieve the climate targets.”
Germany’s federal government recently set the current goal for climate neutrality in Germany for 2045.
