Carbon Capture and Utilization Market & IP Landscape

Greenhouse gas emissions (e.g., carbon dioxide, CO2) are considered a primary contributor to global warming. Much of this gas output is attributed to global industrialization.

Multiple innovative solutions are in development worldwide to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies. A wide variety of academic, practical and patented solutions are emerging which include: capturing carbon dioxide from fossil fuel power plants; transporting CO2 by pipeline or ship to a storage site; utilizing CO2 to create other valuable products; or storing CO2 underground in geological formations.

Many carbon capture technologies such as membrane gas separation, carbon sequestration, adsorption and scrubbing are advancing without any clear winners yet. Sectors actively investing in these technologies include oil/gas recovery, cement & construction, heavy industry and agriculture. Further cost reductions in carbon capture are needed in installation & operation, policy support, and safety concerns to elevate one technological solution over another.

When a superior and/or patented carbon capture technology is adopted by the market, it will promise significant wins for the originators, owners and users of the intellectual property.

Diverse intellectual property strategies may be observed , evident among the top 10 leaders as determined by publishing and/or patent portfolio size

• Top 10 Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage leaders comprise a mixture of: mining, oil and gas service companies; chemicals and advanced materials manufacturers; governments; and academic institutions

• Top 10 global Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage leaders include:

  • Chinese Academy of Sciences

  • Mitsubishi

  • ExxonMobil

  • General Electric

  • US DOE

  • Air Liquide

  • University of California

  • Linde

  • Korea Institute Of Energy Research

  • Tianjin University

• Increasing patent filing can be observed in the landscape among the majority of leaders; nevertheless, General Electric exhibits declining patenting and publishing activity since 2014

Carbon capture membranes appear to be receiving increased investment, innovation and patenting, with 81% of competitor landscape records publishing since 2019

• The top 3 players in carbon capture membranes (by size of portfolio) include the Chinese Academy of Science, Tianjin University, and Air Liquide

• China and the United States play leading roles in carbon capture membrane technology development: publications from these countries account for 28% and 26% of records, respectively

• The most frequently discussed carbon capture membrane benefits include energy efficiency and scalability.

Many recent partnerships have launched, especially among corporations and academic institutions in the past 3 years

• Partnerships are occurring between sectors, e.g., mining, oil and gas service companies, academic institutions, energy & power suppliers.

• Collaboration is evident among leaders, especially in patented intellectual property. Exemplary collaborations may be observed in the Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage Landscape between:

  • Mitsubishi partnered with Kansai Electric Power, BP and Inpex

  • ExxonMobil partnered with Fuelcell Energy, BASF, University of California and General Electric.

  • US DOE has provided significant funding to the University of Tennessee

Objectives of Intellar Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage IP Landscape Dashboards

• Intellar Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage Landscape Dashboards are designed to visualize who is doing what, when and where - and for how much?

• Key concepts: carbon capture, absorption, adsorption, sequestration, storage and utilization technologies

Data Coverage for Intellar Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage IP Landscape Dashboards

• More than 10,000 de-duplicated global simple patent families published in (machine translated) English since 2010

• Technical literature, scientific, medical and engineering journal abstracts, full text (when available) & images published in English since 2018

• News articles, press releases, business research, market forecasts, announcements and magazine content published in English since 2018

Categorization for Intellar Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage IP Landscape Dashboards

This landscape’s technology taxonomy covers:

• Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage Benefits

• Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage Technologies

• Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage Compounds or Additives

• Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage Devices or Components

• Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage Stages

• Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage Industrial Uses

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