Lax & Shaw has introduced a range of energy efficiency measures to its new glass melting furnace at the Leeds plant. The measures have both reduced CO2 emissions and have also enabled the manufacturer to save around £300,000/year in energy costs. The new furnace has been used as a case study example of good practice by the Department of Environment, Transport & the Regions (DETR) Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme (EEBPP) for industry. According to the MD, Andrew Spencer, the rebuild of the number 2 furnace had been planned for 1995/6 but the glassmaker decided to introduce as many sensible energy efficient processes as possible. The savings that have been made are better than anticipated. In addition, the extra cost of specifying energy efficient parts to the furnace instead of "standard" units was relatively small & paid for themselves within seven months.
