Air Liquide Partners in CO2 Sequestration Project Sponsored by U.S. Department of Energy.

PARIS -- Within the context of current concerns to reduce CO2 emissions, Air Liquide has developed high-level expertise in the field of CO2 sequestration. Already a partner in several research projects in this field including those in Canada and Poland, Air Liquide is extending its cooperation to the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium (MGSC) in a project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Illinois Office of Coal Development. The project is being led by the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS).

Air Liquide's R&D center in Countryside, Illinois has been working on a pioneering CO2 sequestration project since 2003. Today, a new phase in this project has begun, consisting of six real-scale CO2 injection tests which will last until 2009. Air Liquide's subsidiary, Air Liquide Industrial U.S. LP, has just entered into a new, Phase II, partnership with the ISGS and serves on the project's Advisory Group.

As well as energy savings and increasing use of renewable energy, capture and sequestration of CO2 emissions from fossil energy is a promising avenue for reducing existing emissions. This process consists of capturing industrial CO2 emissions and burying them deep in the underground layers of the Earth. Although this process has already been carried out in several places around the world, it still requires a certain number of tests to prove its technical feasibility, its cost effectiveness and the sustainability of underground storage.

Air Liquide will provide 19,000 tons of liquid CO2 to be injected during these tests as well as storage tanks for the CO2. Air Liquide will also provide its expertise in the design of the injection skid and assistance in analyzing the results to ensure that the buried CO2 will remain trapped in the deep geological layers.

Dr. Robert Finley, project director for MGSC, stated: "Since the start of the project, Air Liquide has provided its high-level scientific and technological expertise, and has assisted us in our search for environmentally-friendly solutions to reduce greenhouse gasses through geological sequestration".

Francois Darchis, member of Air Liquide's Executive Committee, stated: "This partnership illustrates our ability to implement the entire CO2 sequestration chain, by developing the technologies to concentrate, separate, transport and inject CO2 into the deep layers of the Earth in order to trap it definitively. Today, Air Liquide spends over 50% of its R&D budget on projects devoted to sustainable development. Thus, the Group is developing the technologies of tomorrow and offering its customers more environmentally-friendly solutions."

Present in more than 70 countries, Air Liquide is the world leader in industrial and medical gases and related services. The Group offers innovative solutions based on constantly enhanced technologies. These solutions, which are consistent with Air Liquide's commitment to sustainable development, help to protect life and enable our customers to manufacture many indispensable everyday products. Founded in 1902, Air Liquide has nearly 36,000 employees. The Group has successfully developed a long-term relationship with its shareholders built on trust and transparency and guided by the principles of corporate governance. Since the publication of its first consolidated financial statements in 1971, Air Liquide has posted strong and steady earnings growth. Sales in 2005 totaled 10,435 million euros, with sales outside France accounting for almost for 80%. Air Liquide is listed on the Paris stock exchange and is a component of the CAC 40 and Eurostoxx 50 indices (ISIN code FR 0000120073).