French supplier of industrial gases and services Air Liquide is set to expand its filling stations business for hydrogen-powered cars.
This move by the company is in response to the demand for the vehicles. These vehicles emit only water by using fuel cells to generate electricity, claims the company.
In September 2013, the company announced plans to expand its German network of 15 hydrogen filling stations to 100 by 2017 and 400 by 2023. It currently has over 60 hydrogen filling stations globally.
Air Liquide advanced business and technologies unit head Pierre-Etienne Franc was quoted by bloomberg.com as saying that in territories like Germany or France, it found need of about 1,000 stations.
"It takes about 10 billion euros ($13.7 billion) to build a decent fuel-cell infrastructure in Europe," Franc added.
"If we want to de-carbonate transports, we won't have the choice because there won't be enough bio-fuels, batteries don't provide enough autonomy, and hybrids don't solve the problem."
