Tech spread time needs to be halved by 2025

Bangalore: It took 20-30 years for wind and solar power, biomass to electricity, cleaner coal technologies and carbon capture to reach the mass market. A report by London-based think tank Chatham House says that time for clean technologies to spread globally must be halved by 2025 to meet greenhouse gas reduction targets by 2050.

The report also found that Intellectual property rights can influence the speed at which a particular technology might spread. Also, international cooperation is needed to double technology diffusion rates. Currently, cooperation on innovation is mainly on a national basis, but not international. When world leaders meet in Copenhagen this December to set a new global climate pact, they should focus on stepping up joint venture companies, cross-licensing agreements and joint manufacturing programmes, the think tank recommended.

"Markets will deliver the technology we need, but it takes too long," said Bernice Lee, Research Director for energy, environment and resource governance at Chatham House. According to Chatham House, "A patent portfolio is a form of currency that can be used to attract venture capital, facilitate entry into strategic alliances, provide protection against litigation and create opportunities for mergers and acquisitions." The report recommended that removing bottlenecks from patent registration, introducing incentives for open innovation and improving technology standards can accelerate diffusion.

The report also recommended a greater collaboration between countries on research and development, more public funding for high-risk technologies such as carbon capture and a global licensing database to speed up patent registration. Countering climate change will require a far higher technology deployment rate than the greatest ever annual rate of any given clean energy technology, the think tank found.