Global patent apps drop significantly in clean technology sector
Innovation in clean technology has slowed down dramatically in recent years, an analysis by the International Energy Agency and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development shows.
Drawing on data from the Worldwide Patent Statistical Database, the two Paris-based think tanks found a sharp drop in patent applications for carbon-busting inventions since the beginning of the decade.
Applications plummeted 77 percent from a high of 1,256 in 2011 to 285 in 2018 in the power generation sector and 918 to 298 in buildings over the same period. The figure for transport peaked at 740 in 2014, slumping to 259 last year.
