Munich, 3 June 2008 - The first Belgian hydrogen filling station was
inaugurated today in Brussels by Total in the presence of the Flemish
Ministry for Economy, Enterprise, Science, Innovation and Foreign
Trade. Linde developed the technology which allows the
low-temperature liquid hydrogen to be stored next to the station, as
well as the refuelling system. The Total filling station, which is
situated on the Paris-bound carriageway of the E19 motorway, was
built as part of the cooperation of BMW and Total.
"As a pioneer in hydrogen technology Linde has a particular
responsibility to promote sustainable mobility based on hydrogen",
said Dr Aldo Belloni, member of the Executive Board of Linde AG. "It
is vitally important that we work in tandem with politicians,
scientists and economic decision-makers in order to continue to
develop and improve the infrastructures and technologies required for
the use of hydrogen as a fuel."
"Within the framework of its commitment towards a sustainable
development, the TOTAL group has been investing for several years
into research & development on hydrogen as a fuel", explains Miguel
del Marmol, Managing Director of TOTAL BELGIUM. "With this new
station, TOTAL shows that the distribution of' hydrogen can be
perfectly integrated in a motorway service station."
Linde, which is a leading supplier of industrial gases and the
world's largest manufacturer of hydrogen plants, has been powering
ahead with the development of hydrogen technology for years. Almost
all the filling stations in the world which supply liquid hydrogen
are equipped with Linde refuelling technology. The advantage of
liquid hydrogen (LH2) over compressed gaseous hydrogen (CGH2) is that
it has a significantly higher energy density. This higher energy
density means that more energy can be saved when the hydrogen is
transported from the production site to the filling station than is
required for the liquefaction of the gas. The amount of space
required to store liquid hydrogen at the filling station is much less
than for gaseous hydrogen.
The Linde Group is a world leading gases and engineering company with
more than 50,000 employees working in around 100 countries worldwide.
In the 2007 financial year it achieved sales of EUR 12.3 billion. The
strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards sustainable
earnings-based growth and focuses on the expansion of its
international business with forward-looking products and services.
Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners,
employees, society and the environment - in every one of its business
areas, regions and locations across the globe. Linde is committed to
technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and
sustainable development.
For more information, see The Linde Group web site at www. linde.com
For additional information:
Press Investor Relations
Uwe Wolfinger Thomas Eisenlohr
Telephone: +49.89.35757-1320 Telephone: +49.89.35757-1330