Foreword
What can patent data reveal about global progress in green innovation, and what may be achieved in years to come?
Climate data shows that we are feeling the heat. The Copernicus Climate Change Service found, in October 2023, that the planet was on course to have the warmest year on record, reaching 1.43°C above the pre-industrial average (versus the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit temperature increase to 1.5°C). Meanwhile, just this month (November 2023), the World Resources Institute State of Climate Action 2023 report described “progress made in closing the global gap in climate action” to limit warming to 1.5°C as “woefully inadequate”.
As we write this foreword, COP28 is underway with world leaders meeting in Dubai to attempt to come up with solutions to climate change but are doing so in the face of significant on-going geopolitical events. In view of these events, it may be understandable that longer term plans for greener global industrial activity have temporarily decreased in significance.
Nevertheless, as this report shows, we are continuing to seek technological solutions to the problems of industrialisation and climate change. While there are some indicators that events such as the COVID-19 pandemic may have had a small depressive effect on the rate of technological innovation, our third edition of Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report suggests that, while the green conversation may not be taking up as many news headlines, the rate of green innovation continues to pick up momentum across a wide range of sectors.
However, the impact of reduced or at least distracted political will may be more readily observed in non-technological areas such as delays in the introduction of necessary new regulations, and a lack of sufficient policy support from governments to help ignite many of these still relatively fledging sectors.
The rate of development and roll-out of a new technology is indeed dependent upon more than just the ability to innovate. This becomes evident when looking at patent filing rates in territories where regulations and high-level policy are keeping pace with innovation. Innovators based in these territories are typically leading the way when it comes to the development of new technologies, in their respective sectors.
High-level progress made at international events such as COP should not be understated, but in some ways the agreements that are reached are only an early step in a much longer process. Achieving the agreed targets, while also maintaining a recognisable way of life, will require development and implementation of a wide range of new technologies within a supportive wider national and international infrastructure.
This report examines patent data to provide insight into the rate of development of new green technologies, across several key sectors.
One of the great benefits of the patent system is that it requires public disclosure of new innovations. These disclosures provide a valuable resource for understanding the current state of the art, as well as for identifying the developing fields, current problems, and new advantages that the innovations bring to the world. Analysis of the patent filing data can help us identify progress in the technological solutions to the challenges that currently impact human and animal health, and the environment, who is developing these innovations, and where they are coming from.
This report seeks to leverage the combination of our experience of working with technology experts, and the patent system, with our ability to navigate these resources, to produce data-driven analysis -to try to pull back the curtain on the progress of green innovation.
Last year, we published the second edition of our annual Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report to examine global progress in green innovation and what it might mean to countries, commerce, and the planet.
Building on the response to last year’s report, we have again both broadened and refined the scope for this year. We take a fresh look at some previously visited areas of innovation: sustainable plastics technology, low carbon energy such as hydrogen, battery technology, carbon capture and more sustainable food sources. This third edition of our Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report additionally includes analyses of technological developments in wind energy, and nuclear energy.
Energy (hydrogen, wind, nuclear, batteries): establishing low carbon energy sources will be an increasingly important aspect of future energy production. In this report, we investigate wind, nuclear and hydrogen-based power, and provide insight into the state of innovation in these fields and the challenges faced. Producing low carbon energy is only a part of the solution - efficient storage of energy is also a key part of the solution. Lithium-ion batteries have been at the forefront of a revolution in renewable battery technology since they hit the market in 1991, but are not without limitations. We explore developments in alternative technologies, as well as looking at potential electrochemical solutions for longer term grid-scale energy storage.
Materials (bioplastics, plastics recycling, and carbon capture): the concerns associated with plastic use are well-publicised. We identify and assess innovation trends in bioplastics, and leading recycling technologies. We also explore developments in capturing greenhouse gases emitted from power generating and manufacturing processes, as well as from the wider atmosphere.
Food (alternative protein: cultivated meat, plant-based meat, insect protein): the human population has expanded dramatically over the last century, and expansion is projected to continue for the next. Feeding a growing population in a sustainable manner is a significant problem facing humanity. Protein is a major part of our diet, but one of the most environmentally damaging to produce, traditionally through livestock rearing. We review the more environmentally friendly alternative protein technologies that are on the horizon - covering cultivated meat, insect protein and plant-based meat.
Partner