Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal has officially opened a pioneering new geothermal glasshouse at the University of Lincoln – featuring specialist glass technology from NSG Group.

The new facility at the University’s Riseholme campus brings together innovative technologies to explore how crops could be grown more sustainably and efficiently, with NSG Group contributing specialist glass supplied by Pilkington United Kingdom Limited.

The glasshouse is powered by 18 geothermal boreholes, providing heating and cooling using energy from underground. Alongside this, the glass incorporates a specialist coating designed to reflect solar radiation in wavelengths that are not needed by plants, while allowing the light required for crop growth to pass through.

Glass innovation supporting more sustainable growing

The combination of these two technologies could have significant potential to reduce the environmental and energy impact of greenhouse crop production. The glasshouse has demonstrated the potential to reduce crop greenhouse gas emissions by up to 50% and energy costs by around 30%. In parallel, the specialist Pilkington glass coating reflects solar radiation not required by plants while allowing photosynthetically useful light to pass through. Both technologies have the potential to be transformational for greenhouse crop production systems in the UK and globally.

The facility forms part of the GASTRO (Geothermal and Advanced Spectral Technology for Regional Optimisation of greenhouse crop production) project, which brings together researchers from the University of Lincoln with industrial partners, including NSG Group. The project is investigating how different technologies can work together to improve the efficiency and sustainability of greenhouse horticulture.

Digvijay Thakur, Incubator Director at NSG Group, was at the special event:

“It was a privilege to attend this event - this project is a great example of how NSG Group’s glass expertise can contribute to challenges beyond traditional glass applications. By working alongside universities, researchers and other industry partners, our teams are exploring how the unique properties of glass can be used in new ways to support more sustainable solutions. We congratulate the University of Lincoln and all project partners on this important achievement and look forward to seeing the innovations that emerge from the facility.”

The University of Lincoln’s glasshouse provides a dedicated environment where different technologies and growing approaches can be tested, helping to build knowledge that could ultimately benefit food production in the UK and beyond.

The Princess Royal’s visit also marked the 10th anniversary of the University of Lincoln’s Lincoln Institute for Agri-Food Technology (LIAT), celebrating a decade of developing interdisciplinary technologies to help transform agriculture. For NSG Group, there is a natural connection with our own 200th anniversary of Pilkington this year: two milestones rooted in innovation, expertise and the pursuit of new possibilities.

As we mark 200 years of glassmaking heritage, projects such as this demonstrate how knowledge and expertise developed over generations can continue to find new applications. The specialist glazing at Riseholme brings our glass technology into a new setting, helping researchers explore solutions that could contribute to the sustainability, efficiency and resilience of future food production.

It’s another example of how we shape the future of glass – building on our heritage while continuing to explore what glass can do next.