Germany's economy minister said on Saturday that German companies and public institutions should heat their offices to no more than 19 degrees Celsius (66.2 degrees Fahrenheit) this winter to help reduce the country's consumption of natural gas.
Germany, the largest economy in the European Union, is trying to dispense with natural gas from Russia in response to Moscow's attack on Ukraine.
Germany uses more Russian natural gas imports than many other EU countries. Russia has already cut off gas exports to several European Union countries.
Officials fear that Moscow will use gas exports as a political weapon in order to reduce sanctions imposed on it, or even cut off exports to Europe entirely in the winter when demand is greatest.
In addition, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said that while the 27 European Union countries pledged to reduce gas use by 15 percent from August compared to the average of the previous five years, Germany needs to reduce its consumption by 20 percent.
Habek also proposed banning heating private non-commercial swimming pools, turning off heating in open spaces in government buildings such as lobbies, and turning off lights in public billboards between 10 pm and 6 am.
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