Air Liquide CEO François Jackow named new Hydrogen Council co-chair

The Hydrogen Council announced that François Jackow, CEO of Air Liquide, has been appointed as its new co-chair, joining Jaehoon Chang, vice chair of Hyundai Motor Group. The organization said the leadership update comes as hydrogen development enters a delivery phase marked by infrastructure demand, standardization needs and project financing activity.

More than US $110 billion has been committed globally toward hydrogen across over 500 projects that have passed financial investment decision, according to the announcement. The Council said its priorities include advancing demand mechanisms, infrastructure build-out and establishing standards to support commercial adoption.

Air Liquide, a founding member of the Council, has operations across the hydrogen value chain including production, liquefaction, storage and distribution. The company said it is pursuing strategic scale-up projects to support industrial decarbonization and mobility applications.

Most recently, the company commissioned an industrial ammonia-to-hydrogen plant at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges capable of converting 30 tons of ammonia per day into hydrogen, enabling long-distance transport of hydrogen using existing ammonia infrastructure and supporting emerging supply chains for large-volume low-carbon fuel.

“It is a great honor to step into the role of co-chair at this decisive moment for the Hydrogen Council and the industry,” Jackow said in the announcement. “In a world defined by instability and fragmentation, I am convinced that industry-led, united coalitions like ours can truly make a difference. I am looking forward to working together with this great collective of 140 member companies to unlock hydrogen’s full potential as a core pillar of the global energy transition.”

Jackow succeeds Linde plc CEO Sanjiv Lamba. “Serving as co-chair of the Hydrogen Council has been a privilege,” Lamba said in a statement. “Over the past two and a half years, I’ve seen how powerful this CEO-led coalition can be when it speaks with one clear voice.”

Jaehoon Chang added, “We warmly welcome François Jackow as the new co-chair, and we look forward to working together as we enter this next phase of hydrogen build-out.”

The transition was announced during the Council’s CEO Summit in Seoul, where more than 200 industry executives met to discuss accelerating hydrogen deployment and achieving commercial-scale demand by 2030.