Spatial-Temporal Distribution of Carbon Capture Technology According to Patent Data

Abstract

Energy-saving technology, fuel switching, afforestation, new energy, and carbon capture use and storage (CCUS) are five technologies that can alleviate global climate change. In the 2 °C scenario (2DS), carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies deliver 14% of cumulative CO2 emissions reductions, with around 142 Gt CO2 captured in the period to 2060. The beyond 2 °C scenario (B2DS) deploys CCS more widely and rapidly in order to aim for the “well below 2 °C” target of the Paris Agreement. CCS is a currently available technology that can allow industrial sectors to meet ambitious emissions reduction goals. The development of carbon capture technology is vital to make CCS viable. This chapter presents an overview of carbon capture technology, in an attempt to characterize spatial and temporal distribution based on patent bibliometrics. We designed a retrieval strategy and built a database of 9847 patents. We reveal two phases in annual patent counts: slowly increasing and rapidly increasing. The year 2006 represents a turning point. Eight countries hold the most patents in terms of the top 50 patent assignee codes. This chapter describes relative technical development trends across these major countries. Based on our analysis, we speculate that an important period in carbon capture technology is approaching.