Saint-Gobain announced it is the first manufacturer to carry out a test production of flat glass using more than 30% hydrogen during research and development trials in Herzogenrath, Germany.
The result proves that manufacturing flat glass using a “significant proportion of hydrogen” is technically possible. Officials add the hydrogen “complements other decarbonized energy sources and will reduce the site’s direct CO2 emissions by up to 70%.” Saint-Gobain aims to be carbon neutral by 2050.
Data from the tests indicate that it will be possible for Saint-Gobain to use hydrogen in its float lines in the future when low-carbon hydrogen is available in sufficient quantities.
The sustainability test was made possible by a Saint-Gobain research program launched in 2022. The program is a collaborative effort by the independent German laboratory Gas and Heat Institute Essen e.V., a specialist in industrial gas technologies, and financially supported by North Rhine-Westphalia.
