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Air Liquide and Hyundai ink partnership to scale hydrogen economy

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Air Liquide and Hyundai agreed to expand hydrogen refuelling networks, storage capacity and more at a meeting in Seoul last week. Photo courtesy Air Liquide.

Air Liquide, which maintains its U.S. headquarters in Houston, and South Korea-based Hyundai Motor Group are expanding their strategic partnership to accelerate the growth of the global hydrogen ecosystem.

The renewal of the companies’ Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was announced at the Hydrogen Council CEO Summit in Seoul last week. Together, the companies will work to scale hydrogen production, storage, transportation and utilization across Europe, Korea and the United States with a concentration on heavy-duty transport, logistics and public transportation.

Hyundai hopes Air Liquide's technical expertise will help contribute to more sustainable energy and carbon neutrality.

The companies plan to develop hydrogen refueling networks and storage capacity that can meet growing demands. They also plan to commercialize fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) for diverse applications like public transportation, logistics fleets and ports.

"We are delighted to strengthen our partnership with Hyundai Motor Group,” Armelle Levieux, vice president of innovation, electronics and hydrogen at Air Liquide, said in a news release. “Collaborations like this between leaders across the value chain are essential to building the hydrogen economy.”

The partnership has already shown strong progress in South Korea, according to the companies, with Hyundai rolling out more than 2,000 hydrogen buses and 37,000 passenger fuel cell vehicles, with more expected by 2026. Additionally, Air Liquide has boosted supply capabilities in the region with the new state-of-the-art high-pressure hydrogen filling center, Lotte-Air Liquide Ener’Hy, in Daesan, an industrial hub near Seoul.

Air Liquide and Hyundai previously signed an MoU in 2018, along with other major South Korean players, agreeing to grow the hydrogen economy.

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The new Carbon Measures coalition will create a framework that eliminates double-counting of carbon pollution and attributes emissions to their sources. Photo via Getty Images.

Major Houston energy companies join new Carbon Measures coalition

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Six companies with a large presence in the Houston area have joined a new coalition of companies pursuing a better way to track the carbon emissions of products they manufacture, purchase and finance.

Houston-area members of the Carbon Measures coalition are:

  • Spring-based ExxonMobil
  • Air Liquide, whose U.S. headquarters is in Houston
  • Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, whose U.S. headquarters is in Houston
  • Honeywell, whose Performance Materials and Technologies business is based in Houston.
  • BASF, whose global oilfield solutions business is based in Houston
  • Linde, whose Linde Engineering Americas business is based in Houston

Carbon Measures will create an accounting framework that eliminates double-counting of carbon pollution and attributes emissions to their sources, said Amy Brachio, the group’s CEO. The model is expected to take two years to develop, and between five and seven years to scale up, Bloomberg reported.

The coalition wants to create a system that will “unleash markets and competition,” unlock investments and speed up the pace of emissions reduction, said Brachio, former vice chair of sustainability at professional services firm EY.

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it,” said Darren Woods, chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil. “The first step to reducing global emissions is to know where they’re coming from — and today, we don’t have an accurate system to do this.”

Other members of the coalition include BlackRock-owned Global Infrastructure Partners, Banco Satanader, EY and NextEra Energy.

“Transparent and consistent emissions accounting is not just a technical necessity — it’s a strategic imperative. It enables smarter decisions and accelerates real progress across industries and borders,” said Ken West, president and CEO of Honeywell Energy and Sustainability Solutions.

The U.S. Department of Energy funding is earmarked for the new HyVelocity Hub. Photo via Getty Images

Houston's hydrogen revolution gets up to $1.2B federal boost to power Gulf Coast’s clean energy future

HyVelocity funding

The emerging low-carbon hydrogen ecosystem in Houston and along the Texas Gulf Coast is getting as much as a $1.2 billion lift from the federal government.

The U.S. Department of Energy funding, announced November 20, is earmarked for the new HyVelocity Hub. The hub — backed by energy companies, schools, nonprofits, and other organizations — will serve the country’s biggest hydrogen-producing area. The region earns that status thanks to more than 1,000 miles of dedicated hydrogen pipelines and almost 50 hydrogen production plants.

“The HyVelocity Hub demonstrates the power of collaboration in catalyzing economic growth and creating value for communities as we build a regional hydrogen economy that delivers benefits to Gulf Coast communities,” says Paula Gant, president and CEO of Des Plaines, Illinois-based GTI Energy, which is administering the hub.

HyVelocity, which aims to become the largest hydrogen hub in the country, has already received about $22 million of the $1.2 billion in federal funding to kickstart the project.

Organizers of the hydrogen project include:

  • Arlington, Virginia-based AES Corp.
  • Air Liquide, whose U.S. headquarters is in Houston
  • Chevron, which is moving its headquarters to Houston
  • Spring-based ExxonMobil
  • Lake Mary, Florida-based Mitsubishi Power Americas
  • Denmark-based Ørsted
  • Center for Houston’s Future
  • Houston Advanced Research Center
  • University of Texas at Austin

The hub’s primary contractor is HyVelocity LLC. The company says the hub could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to seven million metric tons per year and create as many as 45,000 over the life of the project.

HyVelocity is looking at several locations in the Houston area and along the Gulf Coast for large-scale production of hydrogen. The process will rely on water from electrolysis along with natural gas from carbon capture and storage. To improve distribution and lower storage costs, the hub envisions creating a hydrogen pipeline system.

Clean hydrogen generated by the hub will help power fuel-cell electric trucks, factories, ammonia plants, refineries, petrochemical facilities, and marine fuel operations.

The deal will enable transportation of ExxonMobil’s low-carbon hydrogen through Air Liquide’s pipeline network. Photo via exxonmobil.com

ExxonMobil’s low-carbon hydrogen project in Baytown adds Air Liquide as partner

team work

Spring-based energy giant ExxonMobil has enlisted Air Liquide as a partner for what’s being billed as the world’s largest low-carbon hydrogen project.

The deal will enable transportation of ExxonMobil’s low-carbon hydrogen through Air Liquide’s pipeline network. Furthermore, Air Liquide will build and operate four units to supply 9,000 metric tons of oxygen and up to 6,500 metric tons of nitrogen each day for the ExxonMobil project.

Air Liquide’s U.S. headquarters is in Houston.

ExxonMobil’s hydrogen production facility is planned for the company’s 3,400-acre Baytown refining and petrochemical complex. The project is expected to produce 1 billion cubic feet of low-carbon hydrogen daily from natural gas and more than 1 million tons of low-carbon ammonia annually while capturing more than 98 percent of the associated carbon emissions.

“Momentum continues to build for the world’s largest low-carbon hydrogen project and the emerging hydrogen market,” Dan Ammann, president of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions, says in a news release.

The hydrogen project is expected to come online in 2027 or 2028.

ExxonMobil says using hydrogen to fuel its olefins plant at Baytown could reduce sitewide carbon emissions by as much as 30 percent. Meanwhile, the carbon capture and storage (CSUS) component of the project would be capable of storing 10 million metric tons of carbon each year, the company says.

Houston's HyVelocity Hub has joined in on a joint letter with the other six H2Hubs asking for revised guidelines. Photo via Getty Images

Houston's clean hydrogen hub joins request to revise federal tax credit guidance

edits needed

The group of regional hubs tapped by the United States government to receive funding to develop clean hydrogen projects have banded together to request a revision of the U.S. Department of Treasury's proposed hydrogen production tax credit (45V) guidance.

Houston's HyVelocity Hub, which was selected to receive up to $1.2 billion from the government's initiative, has joined in on a joint letter with the other six H2Hubs asking for revised requirements. HyVelocity also submitted its own letter to the Treasury.

HyVelocity's letter asks for flexibility and certainty the implementation of the “three pillars” for electricity, which include temporality, incrementality, and deliverability.

"It is imperative that to enable the desired environmental, economic, and equity goals of the IRA, private investment in hydrogen production must advance at scale and at an accelerated pace. Hydrogen production project investments require stable market projections and assurance of regulatory stability to ensure the economics of the long-term projects. To support this investment environment, we recommend that projects be granted a 'grandfathered exemption' such that for the project's life, they can use the regulations in place at the time when construction begins," reads the letter from HyVelocity.

HyVelocity, representing the Gulf Coast region, plans to create up to 35,000 construction jobs and 10,000 permanent jobs across nine proposed core projects with a collective investment of more than $10 billion in private capital to bring low-carbon hydrogen to the market.

The Houston-area initiative is backed by industry partners AES Corporation, Air Liquide, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Mitsubishi Power Americas, Ørsted, and Sempra Infrastructure and The spearheaded by GTI Energy and other organizing participants, including the University of Texas at Austin, The Center for Houston’s Future, Houston Advanced Research Center, and around 90 other supporting partners from academia, industry, government, and beyond.

The project’s first phase is targeted to produce more than 1.1 million tonnes per annum of low-carbon ammonia by the end of 2027. Photo via Houston.org

4 energy companies join forces on low-carbon ammonia project on the Houston Ship Channel

team work

Four companies from all around the world have agreed to work on a large-scale, low-carbon ammonia production and export project on the Houston Ship Channel.

Tokyo-based INPEX Corporation, Paris-based Air Liquide Group, Oklahoma City-based LSB Industries Inc., and Houston-based Vopak Moda Houston LLC have agreed to collaborate on the project, which is expected to deliver its first phase by the end of 2027 with the production of more than 1.1 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of low-carbon ammonia.

“As we approach the achievement of our net zero target by 2050, the unveiling of our low carbon ammonia project in Texas, USA, stands as a momentous testament to INPEX's strong commitment to environmental leadership," INPEX President and CEO Takayuki Ueda says in a news release. "This innovative endeavor marks a significant milestone to create a clean fuel supply chain for a sustainable future.

"By harnessing the power of cutting-edge technologies and collaborative partnerships with Air Liquide, LSB and Vopak Moda, we are accelerating the transition to a low-carbon world, while solidifying our position as a pioneer in energy transformation and a responsible global energy player,” he continues.

Earlier this year, the project completed a feasibility study. Each of the companies will collaborate in various capacities, according to the release, including: Air Liquide and INPEX partnering on low-carbon hydrogen production with their respective technologies; LSB and INPEX collaborating on low-carbon ammonia production, with LSB selecting the ammonia loop technology provider, the pre-FEED, and the engineering, procurement and construction of the facility and LSB overseeing day-to-day operations; INPEX and LSB would sell the low-carbon ammonia and finalize off-take agreements; and Vopak Moda, which currently operates ammonia storage and handling infrastructure, will maintain its ownership of the existing infrastructure and future storage built.

“This project is well aligned with our strategy to become a leader in the global energy transition through the production of low-carbon ammonia,” Mark Behrman, LSB Industries president and CEO, says in the statement. “As a long-standing, highly experienced nitrogen producer and developer of nitrogen production facilities, we are uniquely positioned to play a key role in a critical element of this project by overseeing the design, construction and operation of the ammonia loop."

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Kanin Energy raises up to $100M for waste-heat-to-power projects

fresh funding

Kanin Energy, a member of the Greentown Labs climatech and energy incubator in Houston, recently raised as much as $100 million in capital to grow its energy-as-a-service platform.

S2G Investments led a round of up to $50 million, and the Canada Growth Fund chipped in an additional $50 million. The money will primarily support Kanin’s development and operation of waste-heat-to-power projects.

Kanin—founded in 2020 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada—builds and runs onsite power assets for large-scale energy users. The startup says its energy-as-a-service offering lowers power costs, boosts power reliability and decreases emissions.

The company operates a waste-heat-to-power project at Ohio’s University of Dayton. The project supplies zero-emission electricity.

Kanin has a pipeline of projects totaling about 50 megawatts of capacity. This includes a waste-heat-to-power plant at the Phillips 66 Mewbourn gas-processing plant near Greeley, Colorado.

“Kanin was built on the belief that industrial facilities already hold the solution to their own energy challenges, they just need the right partner to execute,” Janice Tran, CEO of Kanin, who is based in Houston, said in a release. “At a time when power costs continue to rise, [our] solutions are an important tool for our industrial customers to manage their costs, operations, and emissions.”

Marisa Sweeney, principal at S2G, says waste heat is a largely underused resource for lowering power costs, alleviating grid congestion and improving power reliability.

The waste-heat-to-power process captures thermal energy from industrial activities and converts it to electricity. This happens without using extra fuel or generating more emissions.

Kanin says up to 58 percent of energy consumed by industrial processes is lost as waste heat. This heat winds up in the atmosphere at thousands of facilities in North America, including oil-and-gas operations, cement plants, and steel mills, the startup says.

Kanin was founded in 2020 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It opened offices at Greentown Labs Houston in July 2022.

7 Houstonians from energy sector make Forbes list of richest Americans

Rich List

The richest billionaires in America have a collective worth of $8 trillion in 2026, a staggering $1.4 trillion increase since last year, says Forbes. American billionaires are so wealthy that it now takes an unprecedented $4.4 billion net worth to be considered one of the richest people in the country. And one local billionaire has regained the title as Houston's wealthiest resident.

The annual Forbes 400 list is a definitive ranking of the wealthiest Americans, using interviews, financial data, and documentation provided by billionaires and their companies. In all, 43 billionaires across Texas made it on the 2026 list, and 10 are based in Houston. Seven of them have ties to the energy industry.

Oil tycoon Jeffery Hildebrand, 67, now reigns as the No. 1 richest Houstonian, the 9th richest Texan, and the 88th richest person in America for 2026. Hildebrand's net worth has surged $4.7 billion since last year, bringing his current net worth to $14.7 billion. He cofounded Hilcorp, one of the largest privately owned oil and natural gas producers in the U.S., in 1990 and served as its CEO until 2018. He still serves as the chairman of the company.

Kinder Morgan chairman Richard Kinder is the No. 2 richest in Houston. Kinder, 81, was dubbed Houston's richest billionaire in the 2025 Forbes 400 list. His net worth has increased from $11.1 billion to $12.9 billion in just one year. He is the 11th richest Texan and the 100th richest person in America.

Houston pipeline heir Randa Duncan Williams ranks 124th on the list with an estimated net worth of $11.7 billion. Fellow pipeline heirs Dannine Avara and Milane Frantz tie for 128th nationally. Each has an estimated net worth of $11.6 billion. Scott Duncan ties for No. 137 with an $11.3 billion estimated net worth.

Energy exploration chief executive George Bishop of GeoSothern Energy ranks No. 380 with an estimated net worth of $4.5 billion. Last year: $4.7 billion.

Here's how the rest of Houston's billionaires, outside of the energy industry, ranked on this year's list:

  • Toyota mega-dealer Dan Friedkin, 61, is the 102nd richest American with an estimated net worth of $12.9 billion, up from $9.7 billion last year. He most notably owns Gulf States Toyota, which sold $14.5 billion worth of Toyotas in 2025, per Forbes.
  • Hospitality honcho Tilman Fertitta, 69, has a net worth of $12.3 billion and is the 110th richest American. Fertitta owns hospitality corporation Fertitta Entertainment and the NBA team Houston Rockets. He most recently purchased the WNBA's Connecticut Sun and plans to relocate them to Houston under the Houston Comets name in 2027. He also keeps himself busy as President Trump's ambassador to Italy.
  • Texans owner and CEO Cal McNair, 64, ranks as the 218th richest person in America with an estimated net worth of $7.7 billion.

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A version of this article first appeared on CultureMap.com.

Houston-based ENGIE wins national award for clean energy leadership

top honor

Houston-based ENGIE has been recognized for its work in the clean energy space.

The battery storage and energy infrastructure company recently won the 2026 Green Power Leadership Award in the Market Innovation category for its work advancing 24/7 renewable energy solutions. The awards honor individuals and companies advancing sustainability and renewables in the energy industry through innovation and leadership.

The Center for Resource Solutions (CRS), a San Francisco-based environmental nonprofit, grants the awards each year during the Renewable Energy Markets conference. Past recipients include companies like Microsoft, Salesforce and Google. Other award categories include Education & Awareness, Impactful Procurement and Leader of the Year.

"This recognition reflects ENGIE's commitment to developing innovative solutions that give customers greater transparency, accountability and confidence in their sustainability strategies," Anne-Laure Chassanite, interim CEO of ENGIE North America and CEO of ENGIE Resources, said in a news release.

Specifically, the honor recognizes ENGIE's Energy+ 24/7 solution, which helps customers better understand the impact of their energy consumption while also pushing sustainability efforts. ENGIE assists organizations and the public in gaining insight into renewable energy and hourly electricity consumption to see where clean energy is being utilized most effectively.

"As the market continues to evolve, we believe the future of renewable energy procurement lies in helping organizations better understand the impact of their electricity consumption and make more informed energy decisions,” Chassanite added in the release.” Our 24/7 offering is helping establish a new standard by combining innovation with practical, scalable solutions that support meaningful progress toward sustainability goals."

ENGIE's US Energy+ team was also recognized for its customer-focused renewable energy solutions.

"This achievement is the result of the dedication and innovation of teams across ENGIE who are continually challenging what's possible in the energy transition," Chassanite also said in the release.

In June, ENGIE’s 24/7 signed an agreement with Aker BioMarine to supply Texas-sourced clean energy to the Norwegian company's Houston manufacturing site.

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