The Association of Sheet and Safety Glass (AKLP) assesses that the glass industry in Indonesia is growing from other countries. This is driven by as much as 85% of glass-making raw materials available in Indonesia. Chairman II AKLP Putra Narjadin said the government needed to encourage the glass industry to compete with other countries. “However, the government's policy of raising gas prices was high, which forced many glass producers to increase their glass prices. As a result, we lose competitiveness with other countries such as Malaysia," he said in an official statement, Wednesday (1/6/2022). However, according to him, the pandemic has not reduced the enthusiasm of the world industry to take part in the largest exhibition of the world glass industry Glasstec 2022. This can be seen from the number of companies and industry players who have registered as participants in the exhibition.
Meanwhile, the Project Director of glasstec, Messe Düsseldorf Birgit Horn added that this exhibition would be held again after a four-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The exhibition is held in Düsseldorf, Germany from 20 to 23 September 2022. “Glasstec presents a series of exhibitions with various topics related to glass production/manufacturing technology, glass processing and finishing for various glass products and applications,” he said. During his hiatus, Messe Düsseldorf explores various topics that are important for the future development of the glass industry as well as for society as a whole. Research involving glass industry experts from all levels of the value chain has identified five global trends, namely climate (reducing emissions and renewable energy), urbanization (architecture that is resilient to a glass-dominated future), values (sustainable value chains), natural resources. (efficient and sustainable use of resources) and well-being (improved quality of life with the use of glass).
“The five megatrends will be the focus of the Glasstech exhibition. This means that we will provide the glass industry with an innovative and unique spectrum of future solutions and information and the opportunity to expand their network in the global world of glass,” he said. With the motto 'Let's Go Live', glasstec will show innovation how to use glass in the future live.
Glasstec seeks to bring together theory and practice in various conferences that bring together world experts with interesting themes. One of the interesting themes is power-to-x (P2X) technology, synthetic fuel production technology and commodity chemical products using renewable energy. This eco-friendly technology takes the benefits of renewable energy further, not only as a source of electricity, but also into the process fuels and chemical industries. “In Indonesia, the development of renewable energy is still focused on decarbonizing the electricity industry. In fact, through P2X technology, renewable energy can be used to solve problems in the fuel and chemical product industrial sector, one of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions. We hope that Indonesia can make good use of this glasstec exhibition,” he said. P2X is a technology for producing synthetic fuels and commodity chemical products by utilizing renewable energy. The main component of P2X is the electrolysis process: the process of converting a raw material into a green product using electricity from renewable energy. The production of hydrogen through electrolysis of water is one of the core processes in P2X technology. Therefore, hydrogen can be used for various needs. Through P2X, 'green hydrogen' is also a solution to reduce dependence on hydrogen, most of which (around 96 %) comes from fossil fuels. As a result, P2X can reduce emissions from the production of 'black hydrogen' by 830 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. Many countries, especially developed countries, have moved to make P2X no longer a theory but a production stage to be applied in everyday life. This certainly raises new practical challenges that will be answered at the glasstech exhibition. "Indonesia can learn from using P2X technology to produce green hydrogen which has been applied in Germany and Japan," he said.
