Innovation Award: SCHOTT receives award for pioneering trials in glass production using 100 percent hydrogen

The large-scale use of hydrogen in glass production is technologically very demanding and has not yet been attempted by any company. In tests conducted in the spring of 2024, SCHOTT tested the use of hydrogen rather than natural gas in a glass melting tank for several days during 24/7 production operations. For technological reasons, glass melting tanks cannot simply be switched off and on again because the glass that cools down would destroy the tank.

The experts also investigated how the switch would affect the sensitive melting process and glass quality. The project team at SCHOTT was able to solve the complex technical steps and successfully melt optical glass using 100 percent hydrogen for the first time. “This proves that it is indeed possible to switch from natural gas to hydrogen in the energy-intensive glass production process without compromising glass quality,” explain Project Managers Dr. Lenka Deneke and Dr. Matthias Kaffenberger.

The jury of the Innovation Award, made up of representatives from industry and science, evaluated this achievement using criteria such as efficiency, speed of implementation, scalability and cost-effectiveness. Every award-winning project must make a significant contribution to the energy transition, according to the premises.

This year, the award from the German gas and hydrogen industry associations – BDEW, DVGW and Zukunft Gas – which has been presented every two years since 1980, was presented for the first time under the new name “New Gases Innovation Award.” This underscores the current transformation from fossil natural gas to hydrogen, biogas and synthetic gas with the goal of achieving a climate-neutral energy supply.

Glass company also recognized in the audience award

SCHOTT won in the “Application Technology” category and came in second in the Audience Award, for which votes could be cast on the Innovation Award website. Other winners were chosen in the “Generation” and “Transport & Infrastructure” categories, after three projects had been nominated for each category from a total of more than 100 submissions from companies, research institutions and start-ups. In addition, a special award was presented for a particularly visionary project.

Prof. Dr. Frank Behrendt, chairman of the jury and Dean of the Faculty of Process Sciences at the Technical University of Berlin, said there were no losers this year: “The quality and quantity of the applications were extraordinary.” He emphasized the importance of such pioneering projects for the energy transition and our society: “In the future, gases will work alongside renewable electricity to ensure a climate-neutral and resilient energy system. This is why we need innovative ideas for the production, transport and application of gases, which will no longer be called natural gas in the future, but rather hydrogen and biogas.”

For SCHOTT, winning the Innovation Award once again confirms the great significance of its achievements on the road to reaching the company’s goal of climate-neutral production by 2030. “Our experts have done a great pioneering job,” said SCHOTT CEO Dr. Frank Heinricht. “SCHOTT has made an advance investment in hydrogen. However, at the moment there is neither a viable infrastructure nor competitive prices for green hydrogen. We appeal to politicians to create better framework conditions. Until then, we will focus on our second technological path to climate-neutral glass production: the electrification of our melting tanks by using green electricity.”