At the beginning of 2017, several businesses joined forces to advance the energy transformation and spread the vision of a hydrogen economy. On Jan. 18, 2017, during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the heads of thirteen globally operating businesses held a press conference to announce the launch of the Hydrogen Council. The council’s secretary general is Pierre-Etienne Franc, vice president of advanced business and technologies at Air Liquide and formerly board chair of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, and its chair is Benoît Potier, Chief Executive Officer of Air Liquide.