This mastery of the hydrogen chain by Air Liquide extends from the construction of production units to implementation onsite for customers of the Group, everywhere in the world.

Through its subsidiary LURGI, Air Liquide is able to develop and build high-capacity hydrogen production units for the Group as well as for third party customers. These units produce hydrogen using a technology known as steam natural gas reforming.

Worldwide, Air Liquide operates over 200 hydrogen production sites, 40 of which are large units. In 2010, Air Liquide produced 9 billion Nm³ of hydrogen: enough to fuel more than 6 million cars.

The hydrogen produced by Air Liquide is distributed at customer sites and adapted to customer needs and consumption levels—from a bottle of pressurized gas to delivery of greater quantities via pipelines. Today, Air Liquide operates several networks reaching a total of 1,850 kilometers of hydrogen pipelines.

The main use of the hydrogen produced by Air Liquide is to desulfurize liquid fuels, a process that considerably reduces emissions with adverse human and environmental impacts. Hydrogen is also used in industrial chemicals and electronics.