OECD Studies on Environmental Innovation Environmental Policy, Technological Innovation and Patents (OECD Studies on Environmental Innovation)

183 Pages·2008·2.29 MB·English

by  OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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OECD Studies on Environmental Innovation
Environmental Policy,
Technological Innovation
and Patents
Frontmatter Page 2 Thursday, October 23, 2008 10:31 AM
ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION
AND DEVELOPMENT
The OECD is a unique forum where the governments of 30 democracies work
together to address the economic, social and environmental challenges of globalisation.
The OECD is also at the forefront of efforts to understand and to help governments
respond to new developments and concerns, such as corporate governance, the
information economy and the challenges of an ageing population. The Organisation
provides a setting where governments can compare policy experiences, seek answers to
common problems, identify good practice and work to co-ordinate domestic and
international policies.
The OECD member countries are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the
Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,
Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand,
Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey,
the United Kingdom and the United States. The Commission of the European
Communities takes part in the work of the OECD.
OECD Publishing disseminates widely the results of the Organisation’s statistics
gathering and research on economic, social and environmental issues, as well as the
conventions, guidelines and standards agreed by its members.
This work is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of
the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not
necessarily reflect the official views of the Organisation or of the governments
of its member countries.
Also available in French under the title:
Études de l’OCDE pour l’innovation environnementale
Politique environnementale, innovation technologique et dépôts de brevets
Corrigenda to OECD publications may be found on line at: www.oecd.org/publishing/corrigenda.
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FOREWORD
Foreword
U
nderstanding the role that technological change can play in achieving environmental
objectives is important since innovations can allow for improved environmental quality at
lower cost. However, the relationship between environmental policy and technological
innovation remains an area in which empirical evidence is scant. In an attempt to
bridge this gap, the OECD has examined these issues.
Three different case studies have been undertaken: abatement technologies for
wastewater effluent from pulp production; abatement of motor vehicle emissions; and
development of renewable energy technologies. While particular focus has been placed
on the role of environmental policy in bringing about the innovation documented, it is
recognised that other factors play a key role in inducing innovation which has positive
environmental implications.
The work was overseen by the delegates to the Working Party on National
Environmental Policies of the OECD, who provided valuable comments and inputs at
all stages of the project. In addition, the work has been presented at a number of
international conferences, and comments received have served to improve the study
significantly.
The authors would also like to thank DominiqueGuellec and HélèneDernis of the
OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry for their foresight and hard
work in developing the OECD’s patent database upon which much of this study is
based. And finally, Claire-LineMartin provided excellent support in the preparation of
the manuscript, which was very much appreciated.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AND PATENTS – ISBN 978-92-64-04681-8 – © OECD 2008 3

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents
List of Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Executive Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Chapter 1. Environmental Policy, Technological InnovatIon
and Patent Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2. The economics of innovation and eco-innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3. Measures of innovation and eco-innovation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4. The policy determinants of eco-innovation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
5. The case studies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Annex 1.A1. Sources of Patent Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Annex 1.A2. Patent Classification Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Annex 1.A3. Number of EPO Applications in Different
Environmental Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Chapter 2. Environmental Regulation and International Innovation
in Automotive Emissions Control Technologies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
2. Environmental regulation in the automobile sector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
3. Innovation in automotive emissions control technologies . . . . . . . . . 75
4. Empirical analysis and results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
5. Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Annex 2.A1. Overview of Technologies and Corresponding Patent Classes. . 97
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AND PATENTS – ISBN 978-92-64-04681-8 – © OECD 2008 5
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 3. Policy Versus Consumer Pressure: Innovation and Diffusion
of Alternative Bleaching Technologies in the Pulp Industry. . 107
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
2. The pulp and paper industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
3. Pollution and the pulp and paper industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
4. Regulatory responses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
5. Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
6. Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
7. Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Annex 3.A1. Relevant Patent Classes for Pulp Bleaching Technologies. . . . 138
Chapter 4. Renewable Energy Policies and Technological Innovation:
Energy Source and Instrument Choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
2. The renewable energy sector: trends, technologies and policies . . . . 140
3. Patent applications for renewable energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
4. Empirical analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
5. Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Annex 4.A1. First Page of Sample Patent Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Chapter 5. Policy Conclusions and Further Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
1. Policy conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
2. Further work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Annex 5.A1. Glossary of Relevant Patent and Related Terms. . . . . . . . . . . . 173
List of tables
1.1. Comparison of the patent systems of the United States, Japan
and Europe (circa2000) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
1.2. IPC patent classification system for solar concentrating devices
used for the generation of mechanical power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
1.3. Characteristics of the case studies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
2.1. Technologies covered. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
2.2. Fixed-effects model estimates for engine re-design technologies . . . 92
2.3. Fixed-effects model estimates for post-combustion devices. . . . . . 92
6 ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AND PATENTS – ISBN 978-92-64-04681-8 – © OECD 2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS
3.1. Pulp producers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
3.2. Percentage of exports to each country: paper and paperboard. . . . 111
3.3. Summary of Ecolabel programs related to pulp and paper
manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
3.4. Summary of key regulations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
3.5. Number of domestic chlorine and non-chlorine patents,
selected years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
3.6. Top domestic patent assignees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
4.1. Share of electricity production from renewable sources
(excluding hydro) (%) by country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
4.2. Examples of policies aimed at supporting renewable energy . . . . . 145
4.3. IPC classifications for renewable energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
4.4. Number of EPO patent filings in renewable energy technologies
(Annual average1978-2003, by inventor country). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
4.5. Number of EPO patent filings in renewable energy technologies
(Annual average1978-2003, per unit of GDP, by inventor country). . . 150
4.6. Number of EPO patent applications in renewable energy
technologies, normalised by overall patenting activity
(1978-2003). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
4.7. Descriptive statistics of explanatory variables (1978-2003) . . . . . . . 155
4.8. Estimated coefficients of the negative binomial fixed effects
models with individual policy variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
4.9. Correlation coefficients between policy variables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
4.10. Estimated coefficients of the negative binomial fixed effects
models with a composite policy variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
4.11. Estimated coefficients of the negative binomial fixed effects
models with clusters of policy variables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
List of figures
1.1. Share of environmental R&D in total government R&D, 1981-2005 . . 26
1.2. Proportion of facilities by country with budgets
for environment-related R&D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
1.3. Proportion of facilities by employee size class with budgets
for environment-related R&D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
1.4. Share of new products in turnover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
1.5. Number of TPF patent applications by inventor country. . . . . . . . . 34
1.6. Number of EPO “Environmental” patent applications
and total EPO patent applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
1.7. Number of EPO “Environmental” patent applications . . . . . . . . . . . 37
1.A3.1a. Number of EPO Applications in Different Environmental Areas. . 60
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AND PATENTS – ISBN 978-92-64-04681-8 – © OECD 2008 7
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.A3.1b. Number of EPO Applications in Different Environmental Areas (suite) 61
2.1. Evolution of US HC and NO standards for passenger cars
X
(gasoline) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
2.2. Evolution of US CO Standards for passenger cars (gasoline) . . . . . . 67
2.3. Evolution of Japanese CO, HC and NO standards for passenger cars
X
(gasoline). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
2.4. Evolution of Japanese CO, HC, NO and PM standards
X
for passenger cars (diesel). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
2.5. Evolution of European CO standards for passenger cars
(gasoline anddiesel). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2.6. Evolution of European HC and HC + NO standards
X
for passenger cars (gasoline). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
2.7. Evolution of European HC + NO standards for passenger cars
X
(gasoline anddiesel). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
2.8. Evolution of European HC and NO standards for passenger cars
X
(gasoline) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
2.9. Evolution of European PM standards for passenger cars (diesel) . . 71
2.10. Evolution of patent applications at the USPTO, 1975-2001. . . . . . . . 78
2.11. Evolution of patent applications at the GPTO, 1975-2001. . . . . . . . . 79
2.12. Evolution of patent applications at the JPO, 1975-2001) . . . . . . . . . . 80
2.13. Evolution of patent applications at the EPO, 1975-2001 . . . . . . . . . . 82
2.14. Technology shares within engine re-design group at different
patent offices (1975-2001. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
2.15. Source countries for patents (1975-2001) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
2.16. Average patent family size by country and year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
2.17. Source countries of USPTO engine re-design and post-combustion
patents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
2.18. Source countries of German engine re-design and post-combustion
patents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
2.19. Source countries of JPO engine re-design and post-combustion
patents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
2.20. JPO engine re-design and post-combustion patents by domestic
inventors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
3.1. Domestic ECF and TCF patents by country. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
3.2. Average patent family size by country and year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
3.3. ECF and TCF patent trends, selected countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
3.4. Diffusion of ECF bleaching technologies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
3.5. Diffusion of ECF and TCF bleaching technologies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
4.1. Annual growth rates for renewable energy in the world
and the OECD (1990-2004) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
4.2. Renewable energy sources in the OECD in2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
8 ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AND PATENTS – ISBN 978-92-64-04681-8 – © OECD 2008