The world ranking of patents related to hydrogen (H2) is led by the European Union (28%) and Japan (24%), while the United States (20%) is the only major innovation center that has lost ground in the last decade. It is one of the data included in the latest study on patents and hydrogen – Hydrogen patents for a clean energy future– published by the European Patent Office (EPO) and the International Energy Agency (IEA). The report highlights the French and German cases at the European level, and recognizes that Spanish innovation in H2 right now is focused on the production of green hydrogen via electrolysis (electrolysis consists of dividing the water molecule -H2O- into hydrogen and oxygen through an electric discharge, electricity that must be renewable for hydrogen to be considered green).
European patents move towards the clean horizon of hydrogen and, in the Spanish case, moreover, in a significant way. According to Hydrogen patents for a clean energy future, environmentally friendly hydrogen technologies accounted for 76% of hydrogen-derived patents in Spain in the last ten years, which means -according to OEP data- a higher proportion than that registered by other European countries (64% in Germany, 55% in France, 59% in the Netherlands).
The study collects the global activity of patents in hydrogen technologies between 2011 and 2020. It also analyzes the full range of technologies involved: from the production of hydrogen to its final applications, including storage, distribution and transformation.
Overall, the world ranking of hydrogen-related patents is led by the European Union (28%) and Japan (24%), followed by the United States (20%), which is in third place.
In addition, the study shows that while hydrogen patents have grown in Europe and Japan in the last decade, they have decreased in the United States.
Likewise, international patent activity in hydrogen technologies has remained relatively subdued in South Korea and China, although it shows slight growth.
Green hydrogen production technologies dominate patents in Spain
Today, as stated, hydrogen is still largely produced (more than 95%) from natural gas or other fossil fuels, that is, using as raw material a polluting element in itself prevails and also doing so in a process that produces greenhouse gas emissions (in the report this way of producing hydrogen is called by the euphemism Established Technologies ). However -the authors of the study qualify-, patent information shows that hydrogen production technologies are changing, for climatic reasons, towards alternative low-emission methods, such as electrolysis.
Spanish patents on green hydrogen production have been surpassing fossil fuel hydrogen production patents for more than a decade, as can be seen in the adjacent graph. Spanish patents in the field of electrolysis have increased by 16% since 2011, thus driving the overall growth of innovation in this field.
The study indicates that Spain also shows great specialization in technologies for splitting water molecules. Likewise, Spanish innovation is also very active -say the authors of the report- in the development of hydrogen applications for the production of iron and steel, in the generation of electricity, in construction and in maritime transport.
António Campinos, President of the European Patent Office: “taking advantage of the potential of hydrogen is one of the keys to the European strategy to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. If hydrogen is going to play a relevant role in reducing CO2 we need to continue innovating in a wide range of technologies. This report reveals some encouraging transition patterns between countries and industry sectors, as well as the important European contribution to the emergence of new hydrogen technologies. It also highlights the role of startups in hydrogen innovation, who rely on patents to bring their inventions to market.”
According to Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA): “hydrogen produced from low emission sources can play an important role in the energy transition, especially in those industries where there are few sustainable alternatives at the energy level, such as the case of long-distance transportation or fertilizers. This study demonstrates that innovators are responding to the need for competitive hydrogen supply chains, but also identifies areas, particularly among end users, where further efforts are required. We will continue to help governments stimulate innovation in clean, safe, resilient, and sustainable energy technologies”
Among the various potential end-use applications of hydrogen, the automotive sector has been at the center of global innovation for a long time. In fact, patents in this sector continue to grow, led mainly by Japan.
Despite efforts in recent years to decarbonize other sectors, such as long-haul transport, aviation, power generation, and domestic heating systems, the momentum in other end-use applications is yet to be seen. This generates concern about the commitments to zero emissions acquired by the different countries, which cannot be achieved if the use of fossil fuels in these sectors is not reduced.
Hydrogen startups attract corporate capital
The study also found that more than half of the $10 billion in venture capital investment in hydrogen companies between 2011 and 2020 went to patent-bearing start-ups, despite they represent less than a third of the startups in our data set.
In Spain, several startups are driving innovation with patents in hydrogen technologies. Examples of this are H2B2, based in the European Union and the United States, which deals with the development of projects for hydrogen facilities, and Kerionics, based in Valencia, which develops membranes for solid oxide electrolyzers.
The main Spanish hydrogen innovation technology centers are in Madrid (with 40 international patents), Seville and Barcelona (both with 19), and Valencia (with 7).
Hydrogen
The IEA itself published in June 2019 a report according to which the global demand for pure hydrogen in 2018 was almost 75 million tons and according to which the production of hydrogen is responsible for the emission of around 830 million tons of CO2 year.
Green hydrogen, however, is one that uses water (H2O) as raw material. In its manufacturing process, the machine that produces it (the electrolyser, which uses electricity to separate the hydrogen from the oxygen) emits no more than oxygen as “waste” (for the process to be completely clean, the electricity must also come from renewable). Well, within this framework, the Government presented at the end of 2020 the ” Hydrogen Roadmap: a commitment to renewable hydrogen”, a document, of more than 50 pages, which maintains that hydrogen will be “key” for Spain to achieve climate neutrality, “with a 100% renewable electrical system, no later than 2050”. The Executive recognizes in that document that hydrogen will not be fully competitive until after 2030.
Source: Energías Renovables (2023)