IEA Study: Hydrogen Patents Indicate Shift Towards Clean Technologies

The report is the first of its kind and uses global patent data to provide a comprehensive, up-to-date analysis of innovation in all hydrogen technologies.

It covers the full range of technologies, from hydrogen supply to storage, distribution, and transformation, as well as end-user applications, as mentioned in the report.

"Hydrogen from low-emissions sources can play an important role in clean energy transitions, with the potential to replace fossil fuels in industries where few clean alternatives exist, like long-haul transport and fertiliser production," stated IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.

He added, "This study shows that innovators are responding to the need for competitive hydrogen supply chains but also identifies areas—particularly among end-users—where more effort is required." "We will continue to help governments spur innovation for secure, resilient, and sustainable clean energy technologies."

EPO President António Campinos said, "Harnessing the potential of hydrogen is a key part of Europe’s strategy to achieve climate neutrality by 2050."

According to him, if hydrogen is to play a major role in reducing CO2 emissions, innovation is urgently needed across a range of technologies. This report shows some positive patterns of change across countries and industries. For example, Europe has been a big part of the rise of new hydrogen technologies.

"It also highlights the contribution of start-ups to hydrogen innovation and their reliance on patents to bring their inventions to market." President of the EPO added

According to the report, the study shows the major trends in hydrogen technologies from 2011 to 2020 in terms of international patent families (IPFs). Each IPF is a high-value invention for which patent applications have been filed at two or more patent offices around the world.

The report finds that global patenting in hydrogen is led by the European Union and Japan, which account for 28% and 24%, respectively, of all IPFs filed in this period, with significant growth in the past decade. The leading countries in Europe are Germany (11% of the global total), France (6%), and the Netherlands (3%).

The United States, with 20% of all hydrogen-related patents, is the only major innovation centre to see international hydrogen patent applications decline in the past decade, according to the report.

International patenting activity in hydrogen technologies has remained modest in South Korea and China but is on the rise. In addition to these five main innovation centres, other countries generating significant volumes of hydrogen patents include the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Canada.

Hydrogen production technologies accounted for the largest number of hydrogen patents over the 2011–2020 period.

As the report mentioned, technologies motivated by climate concerns accounted for nearly 80% of all patents related to hydrogen production in 2020, with growth being driven chiefly by a sharp increase in innovation in electrolysis.

It added that the most innovative regions are now competing to host the first industrial roll-out phase, with the data suggesting that Europe is gaining an edge as a location for investment in new electrolyzer manufacturing capacity.

The European chemical industry is the leader in new ideas for established hydrogen technologies. Its expertise in this field has also given it a head start in climate-driven technologies like electrolysis and fuel cells.

Automotive companies are also active, and not just in vehicle technology. Behind them, universities and public research institutes generated 13.5% of all hydrogen-related international patents in 2011–2020, led by French and Korean institutions, with a focus on low-emissions hydrogen production methods such as electrolysis.

As the report concludes, the study finds that more than half of the $10 billion in venture capital investment into hydrogen firms in 2011–2020 went to start-ups with patents, despite their making up less than a third of the start-ups in the report’s data set.

Holding a patent is a good indicator of whether a start-up will keep attracting finance. More than 80% of late-stage investment in hydrogen start-ups in 2011–2020 went to companies that had already filed a patent application in areas such as electrolysis, fuel cells, or low-emissions methods for producing hydrogen from gas.

By Sumita Pawar