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

Author

Listed:
  • Benedict Probst
  • Simon Touboul

    (CERNA i3 - Centre d'économie industrielle i3 - Mines Paris - PSL (École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris) - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - I3 - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Matthieu Glachant

    (CERNA i3 - Centre d'économie industrielle i3 - Mines Paris - PSL (École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris) - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - I3 - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Antoine Dechezleprêtre

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.
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Suggested Citation

  • Benedict Probst & Simon Touboul & Matthieu Glachant & Antoine Dechezleprêtre, 2021. "Global trends in the invention and diffusion of climate change mitigation technologies," Post-Print hal-03519533, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03519533
    DOI: 10.1038/s41560-021-00931-5
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    1. Harilal Krishna & Yash Kashyap & Dwarkeshwar Dutt & Ambuj D. Sagar & Abhishek Malhotra, 2023. "Understanding India’s low-carbon energy technology startup landscape," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 94-105, January.
    2. Scheifele, F. & Bräuning, M. & Probst, B., 2022. "The impact of local content requirements on the development of export competitiveness in solar and wind technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    3. Jonas Meckling & Clara Galeazzi & Esther Shears & Tong Xu & Laura Diaz Anadon, 2022. "Energy innovation funding and institutions in major economies," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 7(9), pages 876-885, September.
    4. Aliénor Cameron & Marc Baudry, 2022. "The case for a Carbon Border Adjustment: Where do economists stand?," Policy Papers 2022.01, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    5. Athreye, Suma & Kathuria, Vinish & Martelli, Alessandro & Piscitello, Lucia, 2023. "Intellectual property rights and the international transfer of climate change mitigating technologies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(9).
    6. Zhang, Jianhua & Ballas, Dimitris & Liu, Xiaolong, 2024. "Global climate change mitigation technology diffusion: A network perspective," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    7. Che, Xiao-Jing & Zhou, P. & Wang, M., 2022. "The policy effect on photovoltaic technology innovation with regional heterogeneity in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    8. Xiang, Xiwang & Ma, Minda & Ma, Xin & Chen, Liming & Cai, Weiguang & Feng, Wei & Ma, Zhili, 2022. "Historical decarbonization of global commercial building operations in the 21st century," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    9. Doblinger, Claudia & Surana, Kavita & Li, Deyu & Hultman, Nathan & Anadón, Laura Díaz, 2022. "How do global manufacturing shifts affect long-term clean energy innovation? A study of wind energy suppliers," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(7).
    10. Aïd, René & Bahlali, Mohamed & Creti, Anna, 2023. "Green innovation downturn: The role of imperfect competition," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    11. Wang, Jun-Zhuo & Feng, Gen-Fu & Yin, Hua-Tang & Chang, Chun-Ping, 2023. "Toward sustainable development: Does the rising oil price stimulate innovation in climate change mitigation technologies?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 569-583.
    12. Aliénor Cameron & Marc Baudry, 2023. "The case for carbon leakage and border adjustments: where do economists stand?," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 25(3), pages 435-469, July.
    13. Münch, Florian Anselm & Scheifele, Fabian, 2023. "Nurturing national champions? Local content in solar auctions and firm innovation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    14. Lohmann, Paul M. & Probst, Benedict & Gsottbauer, Elisabeth & Kontoleon, Andreas, 2024. "High levels of air pollution reduce team performance," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    15. Rik L. Rozendaal & Herman R. J. Vollebergh, 2021. "Policy-Induced Innovation in Clean Technologies: Evidence from the Car Market," CESifo Working Paper Series 9422, CESifo.
    16. Chunjuan Luan & Siming Deng & John R. Allison, 2022. "Mutual Granger “causality” between scientific instruments and scientific publications," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(11), pages 6209-6229, November.

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    JEL classification:

    • R14 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Land Use Patterns
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General

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