Air Liquide in brief

The work of a tireless researcher and a business visionary come together. George Claude invents a process for liquefying air that separates oxygen and nitrogen by distillation, and his classmate and friend Paul Delorme gathers together 24 subscribers to support the industrial project. With share capital of 100,000 francs, the joint-stock company Air Liquide is born.

Air Liquide quickly expands internationally. As gases are difficult to transport, the company builds local production plants. Expanding into Belgium in 1906 and Japan in 1907, followed by Spain and Italy in 1909, the Air Liquide crosses the Atlantic to establish plants in Canada in 1911 and the United States in 1916.

It's the beginning of a story that continues to unfold to this day: a story about the strong and unique bond between Air Liquide and its shareholders. The latter who have played a critical role from the start in developing the company’s industrial and stock market successes.

Low temperature physics offers new opportunities. Storing gas in liquid form in cryogenic tanks allows vast quantities to be transported by road or rail from a single location. A single example: after vaporization, one liter of liquid oxygen produces 850 liters of oxygen gas.

Jean Delorme, then Chairman and CEO of Air Liquide, decides to create a research center near Grenoble dedicated to cryogenics. Its first applications emerge in the space industry with equipment integrated in orbit launch systems, launch vehicles and launch pads.

And many new challenges remain: electric propulsion, more competitive launch vehicles, satellite constellations, life in space... The story continues!

Electronic devices gradually spread throughout the world. By relying on its tradition of innovation, Air Liquide embarks on joining this new market. In Japan, the Group starts to supply ultra-high purity gases to the semiconductor industry.

Already an oxygen supplier to hospitals, Air Liquide becomes a specialist in the healthcare sector as it launches its Home Healthcare activity. Medical gases become medications, requiring market authorizations. Research programs in therapeutic gases, used for resuscitation and pain relief, are also launched.

In addition to oxygen and nitrogen, Air Liquide extends its offering to include hydrogen and steam. As with air gases, the offering relies on a basin strategy based on a flexible and reliable pipeline network (the Group being active in the U.S. Gulf Coast, Benelux and Germany).

At the dawn of the new millennium, China becomes a country of major growth for industrial gases. Air Liquide makes significant investments and concludes significant contracts.

The United States of America is home to the largest industrial gas market in the world. By acquiring Airgas, Air Liquide strengthens its position by integrating complementary activities that span the entire domestic market.

As part of its commitment to sustainable growth through limits on its CO₂ emissions and those of its customers, Air Liquide announces its climate objectives, some of the most ambitious in its sector. They consist of reducing its carbon intensity by 30% between 2015 and 2025 through a global approach that includes its assets, its customers, and its ecosystems.

Located in the Saclay area (south of Paris) since 1970, the Group’s flagship of innovation is completely reimagined. It strives to be customer-centric, open to Innovation ecosystems, and conducive to collaboration, in particular by welcoming Accelair, a deep tech start-up accelerator.

In addition to Paris, the Group has Innovation Campuses in Frankfurt (Germany), Shanghai (China), Tokyo (Japan), and Delaware (United States), as well as a Campus Technologies in Grenoble (France).

An early player in the hydrogen market, Air Liquide strengthens its position by acquiring a stake in Hydrogenics Corporation, a Canadian company that produces hydrogen by electrolysis. The Group launches the construction of the largest membrane-based electrolyzer in the world in Bécancourt.

Other initiatives launched include steel (producing low-carbon steel by injecting hydrogen as a replacement for coal) and hydrogen mobility in California (producing and liquefying carbon-free hydrogen by using biomethane).

Confronted with an unprecedented public health crisis, Air Liquide’s Healthcare teams are mobilized to tackle an increased demand for medical oxygen, to guarantee the supply of equipment for hospitals, and to monitor patients at home.

Against the backdrop of a global economic and public health crisis, Air Liquide demonstrates its resilience. This crisis also highlights the importance of Air Liquide’s activities to society, as well as the commitment of its employees.

A world first and a step closer to a low-carbon industry: At the end of January 2021, Air Liquide inaugurated the world's largest PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) electrolyzer in Bécancour, Quebec. With unprecedented production capacity, the site will enable the large-scale production of low-carbon hydrogen.

Air Liquide's partnership with Energy Observer, the world's first energy self-sufficient laboratory ship, is strengthened in 2021, when the Group becomes main partner. 

Objectives: explore, experiment and develop low-carbon energy solutions, while raising awareness among decision-makers and the general public of the challenges of energy transition, and in particular the potential of hydrogen.

In 2022, Air Liquide unveils ADVANCE, the Group’s new strategic plan for 2025. It places sustainable development at the heart of the Group’s strategy, firmly setting Air Liquide on course for a comprehensive performance by combining financial performance and extra-financial performance.

As of June 1, 2022, Air Liquide adopts a new governance structure. Benoît Potier becomes Chairman of the Board of Directors and appoints François Jackow Chief Executive Officer.

In November 2023, Air Liquide and Siemens Energy inaugurate the world's first PEM gigawatt electrolyzer factory in Berlin, paving the way to renewable hydrogen development at scale. Featuring cutting-edge technologies, this factory will reach a production capacity of three gigawatts by 2025.

Air Liquide becomes an Official Supporter in hydrogen, as part of a partnership with the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 to contribute to reducing the event’s carbon emissions. The Group supplied hydrogen of renewable origin for the event's official fleet.

In 2025, Air Liquide announced the acquisition of DIG Airgas, a leading integrated gas player in South Korea. With this strategic step, Air Liquide becomes the industrial gas leader in the dynamic South Korean market.