A ground-breaking development: AGC and Saint-Gobain are now partners in decarbonisation

02/07/2023 | Print view

AGC and Saint-Gobain, two leading global flat glass manufacturers, have announced that they are collaborating on the development of a pioneering pilot flat glass line: The new line is designed to significantly reduce direct CO2 emissions from glass production. Here are the details.

The latest research and development project will see AGC's structural glass production line in Barevka, Czech Republic, completely rebuilt into a high-performance, state-of-the-art facility that will be fuelled 50% by electricity and 50% by a combination of oxygen and gas. This represents a technical breakthrough compared to the current solution for natural gas-fired flat glass furnaces.

The world's most environmentally friendly flat glass furnace

The new furnace is set to become the most environmentally friendly flat glass plant, which will support both companies on their path to carbon neutrality and contribute to the necessary acceleration of the decarbonisation of the flat glass industry.

Looking forward to the new joint AGC-Saint-Gobain project: (from left) François Lerbet, Guillaume Gasnier, Florence Quintard, Joana Arreguy, Benoît d'Iribarne, Davide Cappellino and Marc Foguenne.

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With this development, the two partners aim to pave the way for the conversion of industrial flat glass lines so that they can run primarily on low-carbon electricity, which is more efficient than any gas solution and significantly reduces carbon dioxide emissions, ultimately benefiting customers.

The partners expect the new technology to be operational in the model glass plant by the second half of 2024.

What the partners have to say about the project

Commenting on the joint project, Davide Cappellino, President Architectural Glass Europe & Americas of AGC, says: "As a contribution to a sustainable world, AGC is committed to developing products that promote sustainable development and to reducing the environmental impact of its production processes. This hybrid melter is another important milestone in our journey to become a carbon-neutral company by 2050. The breakthrough design is being developed in partnership with Saint-Gobain, combining the best technological expertise of both companies. As part of our continued progress towards decarbonisation, AGC launched its first low carbon glass product range in late 2022."

The new production line is being built at AGC's site in Barevka, Czech Republic.

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Joana Arreguy, Industrial Director Glass, of Saint-Gobain added: "At Saint-Gobain, we strongly believe in innovation through collaboration. That is why we are delighted to be working with AGC to develop a new, world's most advanced technology for flat glass production. This project is in line with Saint-Gobain's commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. This reduction in direct CO2 emissions will benefit our customers, who are increasingly looking for low-carbon products to integrate into their solutions. It also comes a few months after two Saint-Gobain world firsts: the zero-carbon production of flat glass last May and the recent launch of Oraé, the world's first low-carbon glass."