Global trends in the invention and diffusion of climate change mitigation technologies

Probst, Benedict, Touboul, Simon, Glachant, Matthieu and Dechezleprêtre, Antoine (2021) Global trends in the invention and diffusion of climate change mitigation technologies. Nature Energy, 6 (11). 1077 - 1086. ISSN 2058-7546

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Abstract

Increasing the development and diffusion of climate change mitigation technologies on a global scale is critical to reaching net-zero emissions. We have analysed over a quarter of a million high-value inventions in all major climate change mitigation technologies patented from 1995 to 2017 by inventors located in 170 countries. Our analysis shows an annual growth rate of 10% from 1995 to 2012 in these high-value inventions. Yet, from 2013 to 2017, the growth rate of these inventions fell by around 6% annually, likely driven by declining fossil fuel prices, low carbon prices and increasing technological maturity for some technologies, such as solar photovoltaics. Invention has remained highly concentrated geographically over the past decade, with inventors in Germany, Japan and the United States accounting for more than half of global inventions, and the top ten countries for almost 90%. Except for inventors in China, most middle-income economies have not caught up and remain less specialized in low-carbon technologies than high-income economies.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.nature.com/nenergy/
Additional Information:	© 2021 The Authors, under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
Divisions:	Grantham Research Institute
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor T Technology > T Technology (General) T Technology > TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering
Date Deposited:	01 Dec 2021 15:36
Last Modified:	16 Nov 2024 07:00
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/112775

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