Specialty glass group Schott is preparing to face up to the challenges of climate change. With its ‘Zero Carbon’ strategy project, Schott is heralding the next era in its environmental and climate management. “Pioneering spirit, long-term thinking and responsible action have been deeply rooted in our DNA since the days of our founding” explains Dr Frank Heinricht, Chairman of the Board of Management. “We are guided by these principles when it comes to this great challenge as well.”

As a specialty glass manufacturer, the company operates in an energy-intensive industrial sector. Specialty glasses and glass-ceramics are melted in large melting tanks at temperatures of up to 1700oC. In the past, these melting tanks have been heated with the fossil fuels natural gas, heating oil or electricity. A lot of energy is also required for the further processing of the glasses. Due to this energy requirement, the climate-relevant footprint is around one million tons of CO2e per year.

“We see three steps in our commitment to climate protection” Dr Heinricht confirms. “First, we want to avoid as many climate-damaging emissions as possible, significantly reduce unavoidable emissions in the next step and if nothing else is possible, finally compensate for the remaining emissions.”

The action plan on achieving climate neutrality at Schott comprises four fields of action: Improvement of energy efficiency; switching to green electricity; technological change; and compensation for technologically unavoidable emissions.

The glassmaker has been striving constantly to improve its energy efficiency for decades. The introduction of oxy-fuel melting technology and the increasing use of electricity to heat the melting tanks since the 1990s has already made it possible to reduce specific energy consumption by more than 30%. As part of the company’s proven energy management system, experts are working intensively to identify and exploit further savings potential.

When it comes to electrical power, Schott will be relying solely on green electricity in the future. The company intends to cover 100% of its electricity needs with renewable energy sources such as hydroelectric power, wind power, solar energy and biomass by 2021.

In the long-term, the company intends to completely dispense with the use of fossil fuels, as far as this is technologically feasible. “This transformation process will take time and require high development and investment costs, however” says Dr Heinricht. The company views hydrogen technology as a promising solution. In addition, researchers and melting technologists are assessing the feasibility of other technological approaches. “We believe that as an innovation driver in our industry, we can provide important impulses in this area in the coming years and decades.”

Until CO2-free solutions for heating large glass melting tanks become available, Schott intends to compensate for technologically unavoidable emissions by investing in climate protection projects.

The group is currently creating a compensation portfolio that meets high standards for the sustainability of the projects. These could include reforestation projects in various countries that are certified according to strict standards, for example. 

www.schott.com