Cleaner Tech

Meet the Hidden Giant of Electricity Consumption

Sanjiv Lamba, CEO of Linde, explains how he sees electricity demand changing and whether low-carbon hydrogen can ever become big business.

Sanjiv Lamba.

Photographer: F. Carter Smith/Bloomberg

Just three companies control the lion’s share of the $120 billion global market for industrial gases: Linde, Air Liquide & Air Products.

And because the production of these gases is so energy intensive, each company consumes as much electricity as some small to medium-sized European countries.