Air Liquide Advances Hydrogen, Biofuels

Air Liquide’s investment arm has taken a stake in Hydrexia, a spin-off of Australia’s University of Queensland that has developed a hydrogen storage technology based on a new magnesium alloy. The alloy should enable storing of hydrogen in a solid form rather than in cylinders, according to Air Liquide. Separately, the company and France’s Commission for Atomic Energy & Alternative Energieswill build a pilot plant that minimizes the energy needed to gasify biomass for biofuels production. Air Liquide will develop a new combustion technique that transforms woody biomass into synthesis gas with oxygen instead of air.