PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News:
During the visit of Mr Moon Jae-In, President of South Korea, to the Air Liquide (Paris:AI) hydrogen station at Place de l'Alma, Benoît Potier, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Air Liquide, reaffirmed the Group's commitment to support the deployment of hydrogen infrastructure for mobility. On this occasion, he announced the installation of 4 new hydrogen stations for mobility in Korea as well as the project to build 2 new stations in Paris region.
Convinced that hydrogen will play a key role in the energy transition, Air Liquide is a pioneer in the development of the entire value chain. As such, Air Liquide has already designed and installed 100 hydrogen stations for mobility around the world.
Today, there are about 300 hydrogen electric vehicles in France, including 100 hype taxis in Paris (Hyundai ix35 and Toyota Mirai). France has now about twenty stations, nearly 50% of which are designed and installed by Air Liquide, whether for light vehicles or commercial vehicles such as forklifts for logistics platforms. Three hydrogen stations are operational in Paris and the Paris region: Place de l'Alma, Orly airport and Versailles. This will soon be completed by two new stations.
In Korea, the Government recently announced its intention to accelerate the development of the hydrogen sector in mobility, and plans to invest around 2 billion euros. The plan aims to encourage the creation of public-private partnerships with a target of 310 stations and 16,000 hydrogen-powered vehicles across the country by 2022. Air Liquide will participate in this plan’s operational implementation.
Benoît Potier, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Air Liquide, said: « Hydrogen will play a major role in energy transition. President Moon Jae-In's visit to our station in Paris is a strong symbol that illustrates Korea's commitment to the development of the hydrogen sector. Interest and international commitment to this solution is becoming increasingly important, as reflected in the momentum of the Hydrogen Council, which we created in 2017 with 13 members and which now brings together 54 of the world's largest companies. »
Hydrogen is a solution to the challenge of clean transport and thus contributes to improving air quality. When used in a fuel cell, hydrogen combines with oxygen from the air to produce electricity by releasing only water. Air Liquide controls the entire hydrogen supply chain, from production to storage, distribution and application development for end users.
Air Liquide in Korea
Air
Liquide has been present in Korea since 1996 and provides gases and
services for several industrial sectors (petrochemicals, oil refining,
steel, automotive, renewable energies, etc.). Air Liquide employs more
than 350 people locally and is very involved in the energy transition.
Air Liquide is also present in Korea trough its home healthcare
business, Global Engineering & Construction solutions and advanced
materials.
Hydrogen, a clean energy
Hydrogen
offers a number of benefits numerous advantages for clean
transportation. Used in a fuel cell, it combines with the oxygen in the
atmosphere to produce electricity, with water as the only byproduct. It
does not generates any pollution at its point of use: zero greenhouse
gases, zero particles, and zero noise. Hydrogen brings a concrete
response to the challenges of sustainable mobility and local pollution
in urban areas. It takes less than five minutes to recharge
hydrogen-powered electric vehicles for a driving range of around 600
kilometers.
Air Liquide’s Blue Hydrogen commitment
Blue
Hydrogen® is an Air Liquide program whose goal is to gradually
decarbonize its production of hydrogen dedicated to energy applications.
In practical terms, Air Liquide has made a commitment to produce at
least 50% of the hydrogen necessary for these applications through
carbon-free processes by 2020 by combining:
- The use of renewable energies, water electrolysis, and biogas reforming
- The use of technologies for the capture and upgrading of carbon emitted during the process of producing hydrogen from natural gas.
Even when it is produced from natural gas, hydrogen is a virtuous energy: for equal distance traveled, hydrogen cars allow to reduce GHG emissions by 20% compared with internal combustion vehicles and do not produce any fine particles.
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The world leader in gases, technologies and services for Industry and Health, Air Liquide is present in 80 countries with approximately 65,000 employees and serves more than 3.5 million customers and patients. Oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen are essential small molecules for life, matter and energy. They embody Air Liquide’s scientific territory and have been at the core of the company’s activities since its creation in 1902.
Air Liquide’s ambition is to lead its industry, deliver long term performance and contribute to sustainability. The company’s customer-centric transformation strategy aims at profitable growth over the long term. It relies on operational excellence, selective investments, open innovation and a network organization implemented by the Group worldwide. Through the commitment and inventiveness of its people, Air Liquide leverages energy and environment transition, changes in healthcare and digitization, and delivers greater value to all its stakeholders.
Air Liquide’s revenue amounted to 20.3 billion euros in 2017 and its solutions that protect life and the environment represented more than 40% of sales. Air Liquide is listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange (compartment A) and belongs to the CAC 40, EURO STOXX 50 and FTSE4Good indexes.
