GREEN ENERGY
IP AND GREEN ENERGY
PAYING DIVIDENDS:
As BP finally looks to have the oil spill off the Louisiana coast under control, people are starting to count the cost
of the disaster. While the oil age looks to have a few years left in it yet, the spill has provided a stark reminder that
alternatives must be found, and fast. WIPR looks at the role intellectual property can play in meeting that challenge.
Te United States consumes a lot of energy. While China has overtaken it as the world’s largest consumer overall, US citizens use the equivalent of 6.95 tonnes of oil per capita each year (2009 estimate). Tis number is lower than it was a decade ago, but it is still high enough to cause concern, especially if, as some analysts suggest, the world has already hit peak oil. Couple high consumption in the developed world (Canada and Australia in particular boast similar levels of per capita use) with rapid increases in developing countries, as well as with the threat of climate change, and the case for green, renewable energy technologies is clear.
But unfortunately, it’s not as simple as just designing the technology, marketing it and selling it. It has to be profitable and competitive too. Tere is no point in developing an efficient solar cell if the energy it produces costs five times the energy produced by coal.
Big business
As with many emerging technologies, there are two major potential sources of new discoveries. Small inventors, start-up companies and academia can provide some of the vital work required to answer the energy questions, but without significant financial backing, many of them may struggle to monetise their discoveries. Private equity investment is one answer, while existing energy companies may have the resources to buy out, or otherwise back, some of these players.
But large energy companies can do more than just wait for opportunities to present themselves. Carl Horton is chief IP counsel for General Electric, whose ‘Ecomagination’ project represents the company’s attempt to fund, develop and exploit green technologies, from robust biogas engines in Austria to developing more efficient turbines and aircraſt engines As he explains, IP has an important, but by no means exclusive, role to play in the success of such programmes.
20 World Intellectual Property Review September/October 2010
www.worldipreview.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112