It was reported 21 June that Asahi Glass Co has found a way to halve the fuel consumed in glass production. In a joint effort with partners including the National Inst for Materials Science, it has developed a technique that uses plasma at a temperature of 10,000 C to instantly melt raw materials. The largest glass manufacturer in Japan is now testing the technology at a facility in Yokohama to create mass production techniques within 3 years & start making glass using this method as early as 2013. This technique also halves carbon dioxide emissions. The conventional method for making glass involves melting raw materials over two to five days in a tank at 1,600 C. In the plasma method, materials are in a furnace for only two to three hours.
