Disclosed are an energy saving method for melting glass in and a glass melting furnace for the practice of the method.A charge is melted in a melting section, clarified in a clarifying section adjoining the melting section, and then homogenized in an adjoining homogenizing section of increased bath depth and drawn therefrom. The charge is fed in at the beginning of the melting section and energy is supplied underneath the charging end through electrodes. The melting energy input is generated by combustion by fossil fuel burners in the clarifying section. The burner flue gases flow over the melting section countercurrently to the charge and are exhausted close to the charge end. The surface of the melting section is swept by a flow coming from the clarifying section countercurrently to the charge.The invention is also in a glass melting furnace for the practice of this method, in which, for the formation of the hot surface flow as a counterflow to the charge movement, the melting section bottom slopes downwardly from the clarifying section to the charging end. The roof of the furnace between the burner section and the charging section has at least one radiation barrier extending to just above the bath surface.