British Glass hosts energy options seminar

British Glass has brought together glass manufacturers, equipment suppliers and industry experts to discuss future energy options for glass melting. Staged in Wakefield on 4 December, the seminar combined a series of short presentations and discussions focused on the future low carbon energy mix in the UK and the current and future melting technology the glass industry will need to adopt in order to meet the 2050 decarbonisation goal.

Dr Nick Kirk, Technical Director at British Glass, outlined the challenges facing the glass manufacturing sector and the work by British Glass to tackle the issues of low carbon technologies, increasing recycling, promoting the benefits of glass and campaigning to raise the standards of building glass regulations.

Olu Fasan from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy spoke on the UK Government’s £315 million Innovation programme to accelerate the development of clean energy technologies and how manufacturers will be able to access this fund through a competitive process. Other speakers included Ken Cronin from the UK Onshore Oil and Gas Association, who outlined the history of onshore gas production and the options and challenges surrounding renewable energy, including national policy versus local planning decisions, while Andrew Self of Ofgem discussed electricity networks, price controls, regulations and how the department is working to ensure all consumers get a greater voice on prices and access. Adam Baddeley of Progressive Energy spoke about its work with a range of hydrogen-related projects and Julie Gartside, SLR Consulting, detailed eligibility for competitive application for the industrial waste heat recovery funding programme and the need to build confidence that heat recovery worked.

Later in the day, Neil Simpson of Simpson Combustion and Energy Ltd provided an update on CO2 neutral glass melting, while Andy Reynolds of Fives Stein focused on practical aspects of all-electric melting technology.

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