Liverpool has launched a trial to produce glass using hydrogen.

The trial is taking place at Pilkington UK’s St Helens facility, where the natural gas, normally used in the manufacturing process, will be completely replaced with hydrogen.

The facility has a long glass production history since 1826.

The project aims to demonstrate how feasible is to decarbonise energy-intensive industries such as glass manufacturing with hydrogen.

The so-called ‘HyNet Industrial Fuel Switching’ scheme is led by the project development firm Progressive Energy, with hydrogen being provided by BOC.

The programme was awarded funding of £5.3 million from BEIS through its Energy Innovation Programme in February 2020.

Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: “Just as we led the first industrial revolution, our region is leading the green one too. HyNet has the potential to be a transformative project for our region, cutting carbon emissions across the North West by 25% and helping us take big a step towards our climate targets.”