| Table 6-13 | |||||
| USPTO patents granted in alternative-energy and pollution-control technologies, by technology area: Selected years, 1997–2012 | |||||
| Technology | 1997 | 2002 | 2007 | 2010 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All alternative-energy and pollution-control technologies | 3,087 | 4,094 | 3,701 | 6,260 | 8,834 |
| Alternative energy | 846 | 1,522 | 1,605 | 3,094 | 5,214 |
| Bioenergy | 52 | 74 | 101 | 226 | 564 |
| Electric and hybrid vehicles | 189 | 405 | 396 | 543 | 896 |
| Fuel cells | 95 | 374 | 549 | 1,093 | 1,143 |
| Solar | 212 | 397 | 261 | 671 | 1,472 |
| Wind | 29 | 65 | 173 | 362 | 856 |
| All others | 269 | 207 | 125 | 199 | 283 |
| Energy storage | 349 | 576 | 508 | 989 | 1,098 |
| Batteries | 220 | 329 | 227 | 523 | 632 |
| Hydrogen production and storage | 77 | 141 | 186 | 307 | 284 |
| All others | 52 | 106 | 95 | 159 | 182 |
| Pollution mitigation | 1,719 | 1,856 | 1,382 | 1,916 | 2,064 |
| Air | 696 | 877 | 731 | 1,084 | 1,183 |
| Capture and storage of carbon and other greenhouse gases | 57 | 89 | 64 | 157 | 215 |
| Cleaner coal | 96 | 61 | 41 | 171 | 240 |
| Water | 271 | 371 | 306 | 321 | 311 |
| All others | 599 | 458 | 240 | 183 | 115 |
| Smart grid | 291 | 304 | 366 | 543 | 811 |
|
USPTO = U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. NOTES: Alternative-energy and pollution-control technologies include alternative energy, energy storage, smart grid, and pollution mitigation. Alternative energy includes solar, wind, nuclear, bioenergy, hydropower, wave, tidal, ocean, geothermal, and electric and hybrid automobiles. Pollution mitigation includes recycling; control of air, water, and solid waste pollution; environmental remediation; cleaner coal; and capture and storage of carbon and other greenhouse gasses. Energy storage includes batteries, compressed air, flywheels, superconductivity, magnet energy systems, ultracapacitors, hydrogen production and storage, and thermal energy. Technologies are classified by The Patent Board™ The sum of individual technologies may exceed broad areas, and the sum of the broad categories may exceed the total because some of the patents are assigned to multiple individual technologies or broad areas. SOURCE: The Patent Board™ special tabulations (2013) of the Proprietary Patent database. See appendix tables 6-57–6-75. Science and Engineering Indicators 2014 |
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