Decarbonisation
Decarbonisation in the glass industry Johann Overath* discusses the German glass industry’s decarbonisation options and how it will meet the Federal Government’s plan to reduce all emissions by 2045. high quality and efficiency with low pollutant emissions. In view of climate targets, but also customer and societal demand, the glass industry is working hard to decarbonise its energy-intensive manufacturing steps. Melting glass requires process temperatures of up to 1,650°C (comparable to the temperatures in oxygen steel production). The glass industry is thus one of the most energy-intensive industries. The production of glass in Germany uses about 13.5 TWh of natural gas and about 4.0 TWh of electricity. This means that the glass industry covers about 75% of its energy needs with natural gas, which corresponds to about 2% of national German gas consumption. Direct CO2 emissions amount to about 4.9 million tonnes, of which about 4 million tonnes are emitted from plants subject to emissions trading. About a quarter of these CO2 emissions, about 1 million t, are process-related and come from the thermal decomposition of the carbonate raw materials (similar to the lime and cement industries). In principle, these cannot be reduced by switching to renewable energy sources, be it electricity or CO2-neutral fuels. The glass industry is therefore facing
enormous challenges. Energy savings in the glass melting process are only possible to a small extent, because the specific energy con-sumption today is close to the physical / technical minimum.
Energy efficiency The Federal Association of the German Glass Industry (BV Glas) represents the economic, environmental and climate policy interests of the glass industry in Germany. It has been working hard to improve energy efficiency in the glass industry since the early 1990s and has communicated the results transparently to politicians and the public. For example, BV Glas, on behalf of the entire glass industry in Germany, has committed itself to reducing specific CO2 emissions by at least 20% by 2012 compared to 1990 as part of the German industry’s climate agreement with the federal government. This target was reviewed by an independent institute every year and the targets were always met. In 2012, a reduction of as much as 24.8% CO2 per tonne of saleable glass was achieved compared to 1990. Furthermore, BV Glas has accompanied the introduction of Continued>>
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lass is a material indispensable in modern society and is used everywhere: as packaging for food, beverages and medical vaccination vials, as energy-efficient high-performance glazing, as reinforcing glass fibres in wind turbines, as fibre optic cables for the digital infrastructure and as special glass for the semi-conductor industry. Only with the help of glass products decarbonisation and the transformation to a climate-neutral world will succeed. Nevertheless, the glass industry must also decarbonise or defossilise its processes. The European Union has decided to achieve climate neutrality by the year 2050. In Germany, the goals are even more ambitious. As a result of a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court, the German government has decided to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions to zero as early as 2045. This means national emission reductions, not compensation through projects in other countries, such as Joint Implementation or Clean Development Mechanism. Therefore, greenhouse gas emissions from glass production must also be reduced to zero. The glass industry’s production processes are highly optimised in order to be able to manufacture products of
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