Hydrogen innovation plateaus – but underlying trends signal ongoing development: latest report
Innovation in both hydrogen production and storage technologies has – for the first time in a decade – plateaued, according to the latest patent data* reported by Appleyard Lees.
This is one of the findings in the fourth annual edition of the now-published Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report**from the leading intellectual property firm.
Appleyard Lees’ Chris Mason, Partner, said:
Despite the sudden pause in the surge since 2019 of patent filings for hydrogen technologies, the hydrogen storage technology market is expected to expand more than 10-fold in value by 2028. A key motivator for this is the use of hydrogen storage alongside renewable power generation.
“The patent filing trends we’ve highlighted in our latest report – coupled with the underlying move to a green transition and the beneficial properties of hydrogen – suggest continued innovation across all hydrogen technologies.”
Innovation increases mostly in mechanical engineering
Despite the apparent hiatus in hydrogen technology-related patent activity overall, filings for mechanical engineering applications in hydrogen storage dominate the latest data.
In the two years to 2022, numbers rose by 80% from 607 to 1,093 compared to an increase of less than 200 for both electrical engineering and chemistry patent filings. Innovation in hydrogen storage via mechanical engineering has shifted more to technologies for storing liquefied and solidified gases while chemistry-related applications focus on metallic elements for material-based hydrogen storage, fuel cells and catalysis apparatus. The latest electrical engineering-related innovation includes conversion to electrical energy, circuit arrangements for supplying and distributing electric power and systems for storing electric energy.
Hydrogen storage innovation for the transport sector has seen most activity in shipping and aviation, with patent filings from companies including Airbus, Rolls-Royce and Maersk reaching a new peak in 2021 for both sectors, while developments in hydrogen storage for motor vehicles and rail are comparatively lower.
Emily Bevan-Smith, European Patent Attorney at Appleyard Lees, added:
As increasing demand for hydrogen will need a greater scale of production and storage, which requires innovation to store and transport larger volumes efficiently and safely.
“Therefore, it’s an imperative to develop hydrogen storage facilities and techniques that provide increased capacity combined with low cost. Recent storage innovation suggests a focus on optimising existing storage tanks and vessels.”
Countries and companies
The Republic of Korea now leads the world in patent filings for hydrogen storage – possibly influenced by its Hydrogen Economy Roadmap, including goals to increase the number of hydrogen powered cars – followed by Europe, which has overtaken Japan for the first time.
This is reflected in companies including South Korean’s Hyundai and Germany’s Bosch recently registering the highest number of new patent applications. The former plans to develop fuel cell systems to compete with battery-powered electric vehicles, while Bosch has pledged to invest 2.5m Euros in hydrogen fuel cell technology to 2026.
The Inside Green Innovation: Progress Report – Fourth Edition’s focus on hydrogen was chosen because of its prominence in the global green innovation conversation, as referenced in the OECD’s and United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Green Innovation Database, a global innovation catalogue that connects needs for solving environmental or climate change problems with sustainable solutions.
READ the latest news shaping the hydrogen market at Hydrogen Central
Hydrogen innovation plateaus – but underlying trends signal ongoing development: latest report
