Data and AI working for the energy transition
The energy transition is impossible without technology, and artificial intelligence (AI) is playing a decisive role. For Air Liquide, AI is a strong lever of value creation and efficiency, fully in line with its innovation strategy for a sustainable performance.
Every day, billions of data are collected from the Group’s 500 plants, 20 million gas cylinders and 9,900 trucks. Analyzing this data allows a detailed and global understanding of industrial assets and, ultimately, monitoring optimization. For example, the teams have implemented AI solutions that reinforce the reliability of production units, which are controlled by remote centers, and that optimize their energy consumption, thus reducing their environmental impact.
Another axis for decarbonizing operations is logistics. In 2020, the Group deployed a program to digitize its liquid gas supply chain, based on AI. This will allow Air Liquide to better anticipate its customers’ needs and determine optimal routes, thus limiting the number of kilometers traveled by delivery trucks. The goal is a 10% reduction per year until 2025.
20 million kilometers avoided thanks to AI.
Making factories more flexible with AI
Contributing to a low-carbon society requires using renewable energy to power industrial and urban areas. However, their intermittence poses a major challenge. Air Liquide has thus launched an ambitious research program with the École des Mines ParisTech into how to use AI to address this challenge. Among other things, the program focuses on the flexibility of industrial units, which is essential for integrating renewable energy into the grid, and on the development of algorithms to optimize plant production.