One of the world’s top hydrogen manufacturers, Air Liquide, has decided to roll out its Hydrogen Energy Program (H2E) in Europe. The European Commission has authorized $88.6 million USD in funding for support of the H2E program.
H2E will focus on innovative solutions for the production (using renewable energy) and storage of hydrogen along with development of hydrogen fuel cells. Another area of focus will be developing the necessary regulatory framework for this project to succeed.
The Air Liquide group will coordinate this effort among twenty different industry partners including French research laboratories, industrial groups and small to medium sized businesses. Two additional goals of the H2E program are environmentalism and education.
The H2E program seeks to reduce global warming and dependence upon foreign energy with the focus on hydrogen as a replacement fuel. The Air Liquide program also will include demonstration and educational projects to make hydrogen technology visible within the European communities.
The Air Liquide group has been in business over 40 years with 40,000 employees in 75 countries worldwide supplying hydrogen and other gases in the food industry plus medical and research fields. They also supply hydrogen to the semiconductor industry and to oil companies to desulfur fuel.
Air Liquide has even opened up a new Planet Hydrogen website to talk more in-depth about the H2E program. Since the world’s major oil companies aren’t “busting a move” to spearhead hydrogen as our next transportation fuel, it’s good to see that one of the largest hydrogen suppliers in the world is taking up the challenge.
Move over Exxon as Air Liquide and a few other large hydrogen manufacturers may just replace you in a few short years.