Monitoring green technologies in patent and scientific literature

01-04-2012

Ian Pearce

Green technology patents provide new monitoring challenges to those in the industry. Ian Pearce explains.

In recent years the potential environmental consequences of greenhouse gas emissions and other forms of pollution, as well as the need to reduce reliance on traditional fossil fuels, have led to an increasing global awareness of the advantages of moving to ‘cleaner’ or more renewable energy sources.

Advances in technologies such as wind turbines and solar panels also mean that it is now possible for individual households, as well as large industries, to contribute to this effort. In the UK, overall decreases in the cost of solar panels, for example, have recently led the UK government to propose reductions in subsidies for households installing solar energy.

But what is the best way to monitor technologies related to ‘clean energy’ in both the patent and scientific literature?


Green technology, patents, scientific literature, Y02 classification, prior art search

WIPR