8.4 Conclusion
Carbon dioxide is an inert gas that has no heating value of combustion and is an
environmental concern since it is a major greenhouse gas. Varied technologies have
been developed for CO 2 capture. This chapter uses six patent indicators to quantify
the spatial-temporal distribution of carbon capture technology.
We speculate that a productive period for carbon capture technology development
is approaching. As the count of authorized patents has continued to increase rapidly
since 2006, the life cycle of carbon capture technology is or will soon be in the
growth stage. It is timely for research and development in carbon capture technology
to come to the fore, providing innovations to solve problems in CCS projects.
Carbon capture patents are concentrated in a few countries, such as Japan, the
United States, France, China, and Germany, but CCS projects are needed worldwide.
Patents are private property that belong to patentees, but the environment is a global
public good. As private properties, companies, and institutes will not transfer
technologies for free, carbon emissions continue to increase. Companies lack motivation to purchase technologies from innovators. Closing the gap between CCS
rhetoric and technical progress is critically important to further global climate
mitigation efforts. Developing strong international cooperation on CCS demonstration with global coordination, transparency, cost-sharing, and communication as
10th
9th
8th
7th
6th
5th
4th
3rd
2nd
1st
G GERMANY
A USA
J JAPAN
C CHINA
K KOREA
E UK
F FRANCE
G
G
J
G
A
J
C
C
F
G
A
A
A
J
J
J
J
F
G
A
A
A
C
C
C
K
F
G
A
A
A
A
A
K
F
F
F
G
A
A
J
J
C
C
E
K
F
G
A
A
A
J
C
C
E
F
F
G
A
A
A
J
C
F
F
C
C
G
A
A
F
F
F
F
J
F
C
A
F
F
F
A
F
F
F
C
F
FRANCE
Fig. 8.7 Top 10 assignee codes across one decade, showing national trends. A bubble represents an
assignee code, the capital letter is the country in which this assignee code is based, bubble size
represents the patent count per assignee code, and an arrow shows relative national development
trends. Due to rank ties, assignee codes in the lowest ranks are omitted in some years. Source:
Derwent Innovations Index Database (2016)
8 Spatial-Temporal Distribution of Carbon Capture Technology According to Patent. . .
167
Carbon dioxide is an inert gas that has no heating value of combustion and is an
environmental concern since it is a major greenhouse gas. Varied technologies have
been developed for CO 2 capture. This chapter uses six patent indicators to quantify
the spatial-temporal distribution of carbon capture technology.
We speculate that a productive period for carbon capture technology development
is approaching. As the count of authorized patents has continued to increase rapidly
since 2006, the life cycle of carbon capture technology is or will soon be in the
growth stage. It is timely for research and development in carbon capture technology
to come to the fore, providing innovations to solve problems in CCS projects.
Carbon capture patents are concentrated in a few countries, such as Japan, the
United States, France, China, and Germany, but CCS projects are needed worldwide.
Patents are private property that belong to patentees, but the environment is a global
public good. As private properties, companies, and institutes will not transfer
technologies for free, carbon emissions continue to increase. Companies lack motivation to purchase technologies from innovators. Closing the gap between CCS
rhetoric and technical progress is critically important to further global climate
mitigation efforts. Developing strong international cooperation on CCS demonstration with global coordination, transparency, cost-sharing, and communication as
10th
9th
8th
7th
6th
5th
4th
3rd
2nd
1st
G GERMANY
A USA
J JAPAN
C CHINA
K KOREA
E UK
F FRANCE
G
G
J
G
A
J
C
C
F
G
A
A
A
J
J
J
J
F
G
A
A
A
C
C
C
K
F
G
A
A
A
A
A
K
F
F
F
G
A
A
J
J
C
C
E
K
F
G
A
A
A
J
C
C
E
F
F
G
A
A
A
J
C
F
F
C
C
G
A
A
F
F
F
F
J
F
C
A
F
F
F
A
F
F
F
C
F
FRANCE
Fig. 8.7 Top 10 assignee codes across one decade, showing national trends. A bubble represents an
assignee code, the capital letter is the country in which this assignee code is based, bubble size
represents the patent count per assignee code, and an arrow shows relative national development
trends. Due to rank ties, assignee codes in the lowest ranks are omitted in some years. Source:
Derwent Innovations Index Database (2016)
8 Spatial-Temporal Distribution of Carbon Capture Technology According to Patent. . .
167