German companies are trying to cut gas consumption in response to the government's call for reserve stocks, but savings could be limited without cutting production, companies and industry associations in the auto, chemical and engineering industries told Reuters.

Switching from gas to other fuels such as coal or oil as a short-term solution is possible for companies with on-site burners, but Berlin should help by speeding up permits for higher carbon emissions, the associations said.

Mercedes-Benz said it is currently replacing its natural gas thermal power plants with "green" electricity, declining to specify what type.

The German automobile association VDA said that other companies are also looking into similar measures - but if the entire automotive industry switches to new technologies, then the need for electricity in the network will increase by 15%, she warned.

"Both options imply cost increases for industry and require a stable electricity grid as well as quick bureaucratic approval for fuel switching," VDA president Hildegard Mueller said, referring to a switch to electricity from the grid or oil.

In an effort to reduce dependence on Russian gas, Germany has already cut gas's share of electricity generation to around 6% this year from 15.2% last year and allowed coal-fired power plants to reconnect to the grid.

Germany's chemical industry, which consumes a lot of gas, can reduce gas consumption by 2-3% by switching to another fuel, the national chemical industry association VCI told Reuters.

Germany's energy regulator, the Bundesnetzagentur, is currently evaluating data from the country's 2,500 largest industrial gas consumers on their needs and emergency reduction plans to create a so-called gas safety platform due to go live in October.

The government will also allow major gas consumers to auction contracted volumes of gas that they will not use in order to stabilize the market.

However, whether any companies will have a supply of gas remains an open question, industry officials told the agency. And given the restrictions on switching to other fuels, more significant gas savings will most likely require reducing production or moving it abroad.