Climate protection
We aim to be climate-neutral by 2040. We have also set some interim goals:
- To power our depots, office buildings and stations in Germany entirely with renewable energy from 2025.
- To increase the share of renewable energies in the DB traction current mix in Germany to 80% by 2030.
- To operate DB rail transport in Germany entirely with renewable energies by 2038 at the latest.
We are committed to a science-based 1.5°C-aligned climate protection target within the framework of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). In the summer of 2024, we will submit our climate protection target, based on absolute greenhouse gas reduction pathways, to the SBTi for validation. For the expansion of our greenhouse gas budgets, we are currently developing a schedule for managing the relevant Scope 3 emissions. In terms of Scope 3.1 (purchased goods and services) and Scope 3.2 (capital goods), our aim is to implement a supplier engagement target in order to ensure that our suppliers are also committed to science-based climate targets. In accordance with SBTi requirements, we will also report these absolute greenhouse gas emissions annually from 2024 onwards.
In addition to increasing our share of renewable energies, we intend to use energy as efficiently as possible. That is why we are relying on brake energy recovery in our trains. We are also training and supporting our drivers in energy-saving driving. The continuous roll-out of driver assistance systems is helping us to increase energy efficiency. Since April 2024, we have also been using the smart energy-saving mode for train information boards on platforms nationwide in order to save energy at stations. At night or during service breaks in particular, there are longer periods when the train information boards are not needed. For about 1,900 devices throughout Germany, the energy-saving mode reduces the backlighting of the train information boards or switches it off completely, where safety considerations permit.
As we move toward a climate-neutral DB Group, we no longer want to use fossil fuels. Already, more than 90% of our rail passenger and freight transport in Germany (based on weight-related ton kilometers – Ltkm) is provided electrically. We are also taking an approach that is open to all technologies, including the use of alternative drives and fuels.
We are investing in green technologies, for example in the scaled use of the biofuel HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil). Depending on the composition of the raw material, about 85% to 90% less accounted greenhouse gas emissions are generated compared to conventional diesel. In 2024, seven additional rail filling stations were converted to HVO. At DB Rail Construction, about 93% of the vehicle fleet has now been approved for HVO (almost 3,400 vehicles).
In addition to using HVO as a bridging technology, we are testing alternative drives. In May 2024, we commissioned our first overhead wire island system in Heide to supply battery-powered trains in regional rail passenger transport. The system is the first of three overhead wire island systems being built on the west coast of Schleswig-Holstein to supply the battery network there.
We also emit less greenhouse gas thanks to new, more energy-efficient trains. The expansion of the fleet is continuing in 2024: we receive a new ICE every three weeks, on average.
We also use a climate-friendly heat supply in our buildings, so we are working on different concepts and measures. This means that we are gradually replacing fossil fuel systems with climate-friendly alternatives as they reach the end of their life cycle. In January 2024, for example, Osnabrück railway station was fitted with a heat pump.
The digitalization of rail transport and capital expenditures in our infrastructure are also having a positive effect on our climate footprint. For example, we are developing the data-driven recommendation software Recommender with a focus on the user, to identify the shortest possible alternative routes based on the current utilization of capacity on each route. Recommender has been in pilot operation in construction planning in two regions since November 2023, and was successfully integrated into the Southwest region in the first half of 2024.
Further information on specific climate protection measures can be found in the chapter Development of business units.
Adaptation to climate change
As an operator of critical infrastructure and as an organization with high land use, we are severely impacted by the effects of climate change on our core business. That is why we have intensified our efforts to prepare ourselves for the increases in extreme weather caused by climate change. We have bundled our measures together in the “Climate-Resilient Railway Technology” program.
The future effects of the climate in Germany on DB Group have been identified using the exposure analysis method, which is already in use for the former business unit DB Netze Stations. We use climate data provided by the German Adaptation Strategy (DAS-Basisdienst) as an approved data basis for our analyses. The results confirm previous statements on the climate effects that can be expected in Germany in the future for the Integrated Rail System. We are currently carrying out in-depth analyses that take into account the special demands of the business units in terms of climate indicators – another important step in the strategic development of our climate resilience management.