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Patents and the energy transition: global trends in clean energy technology innovation

This report examines the landscape of low-carbon energy technologies and covers the past, present and future of clean energy innovation. Recent developments provide welcome grounds for optimism. After a slump in patenting activity during the last decade, have now seen three years of growth in low-carbon energy (LCE) patenting in many key emerging and cross-cutting technologies. To provide context to the trends and patterns in ow-carbon energy innovation, the report uses new approaches to identify patents related to fossil fuel technologies. The results show fossil fuel patents declining as LCE patents grow. It is clear that to reach our shared objective of net zero emissions, further efforts are urgently required to take this resurgence of clean energy innovation to a new and transformational level. Policy-makers can draw on this report to identify actions that will help bring new technologies to markets and consumers all over the world.