Recent trends in innovation in climate change mitigation technologies

Carbon neutrality has been widely acknowledged as a challenge to environmental mitigation and global climate change policy. The current study examines the association between collaboration in climate change mitigation technologies (CMTs), energy productivity (EP), natural resources rent (NRR), renewable energy consumption (REC), and environmentally related tax (ET) on CO2 emissions for a panel dataset of 30 OECD economies from 1990 to 2020. This paper employs panel data econometric techniques such as AMG, CCEMG, and CS-ARDL. The empirical outcomes show that CMTs, EP, REC, and ET have a negative effect on CO2 emissions, indicating that their increase will bring about the reduction of carbon emissions, whereas NRR has a positive impact on CO2 emissions, suggesting that its increase will raise CO2 emissions. Most interestingly, REC and EP play a leading role in all selected variables by decarbonizing and effectively converting conventional energy into clean, green energy in the process of energy production and utilization. Finally, the OECD countries are anticipated to transition their energy from conventional resources to renewable sources, which will be validated by the increase in energy productivity and the adoption of clean and green technology in the short term.

Regional studies show that regions develop new technologies related to their existing knowledge base. R&D expenditure targeting sectors related to this knowledge base is, therefore, more promising to create innovative output. Using global patent data, we investigate whether path-dependency of innovation in climate-change mitigation and adaptation technologies (CCMTs) holds at the country level and depends on the country's development level. We study 197 countries during 2005–2018 and find that relatedness is a significant determinant of innovation in CCMTs, with stronger effects for developing countries. We construct a two-mode network linking countries to technological classes based on patenting activity to identify each country's existing knowledge and those CCMTs where they are most likely to innovate. This is valuable for decision-making on R&D spending and especially important for developing countries, which face stringent financial and human capital constraints in technology creation and thus require more targeted investments.

Patent-Based Estimation Procedure of Private R&D: The Case of Climate Change and Mitigation Technologies in Europe

Objective To analyze the trend of scientific and technological innovation and propose strategies for development by study the general situation, distribution, dominant technology areas and protection conditions of patent applications from Beijing municipal hospitals during 2006-2015. Methods Collect basic patent information in 22 municipal hospitals to analyze the trend of scientific and technological innovation in municipal hospitals using technological development measurement method. Results A total number of 678 patent applications were filed from 22 hospitals from 2006 to 2015, shows patent applications increased a lot during the ten years. There are 390 valid patents among which medical devices, medical materials and preparation methods, enzyme or microbial testing methods are dominant areas of technological innovation. Conclusions The capacity of technological innovation develops rapidly in municipal hospitals. Research management departments should be more active in advancing technological innovation by strengthen patent management and promoting technology transfer. Key words: Scientific and technological innovation; Hospital; Patent analysis; Development strategy

Observational evidence from different aspects, such as temperature, sea level, etc., has brought climate change to the attention. The impacts caused by it will vary regionally but will increase over time as global temperatures increase. Many adaptation and mitigation options can help address climate change. While buildings hold important key to effectively addressing climate change by applying mitigation technologies and policies because buildings accounts for large part of global final energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. This paper focuses on climate change mitigation in building sector so as to find out proper methods to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance resilience to climate change. It summarizes the mitigation technologies in building sector, its opportunities and challenges, and sectoral polices. Then it analyzes the roles of stakeholders in building sector. Finally, the mitigation in Norway, which is with high vulnerabilities, is stated as a case study to present a country’s responses to climate change in building sector. It has been proved that applying appropriate mitigation technologies and policies, and integrating different stakeholders together properly with recognizing their roles can effectively make a great effort to global climate change mitigation. Only when climate change is regard as important and mitigation technologies and policies are applied properly especially in building sector, can we achieve the sustainable development.

Background: In an era of explosive growth in biomedical evidence, improving systematic review (SR) search processes is increasingly critical. Text-mining tools (TMTs) are a potentially powerful resource to improve and streamline search strategy development. Two types of TMTs are especially of interest to searchers: word frequency (useful for identifying most used keyword terms, e.g., PubReminer) and clustering (visualizing common themes, e.g., Carrot2). Objectives: The objectives of this study were to compare the benefits and trade-offs of searches with and without the use of TMTs for evidence synthesis products in real world settings. Specific questions included: (1) Do TMTs decrease the time spent developing search strategies? (2) How do TMTs affect the sensitivity and yield of searches? (3) Do TMTs identify groups of records that can be safely excluded in the search evaluation step? (4) Does the complexity of a systematic review topic affect TMT performance? In addition to quantitative data, we collected librarians' comments on their experiences using TMTs to explore when and how these new tools may be useful in systematic review search¬¬ creation. Methods: In this prospective comparative study, we included seven SR projects, and classified them into simple or complex topics. The project librarian used conventional “usual practice” (UP) methods to create the MEDLINE search strategy, while a paired TMT librarian simultaneously and independently created a search strategy using a variety of TMTs. TMT librarians could choose one or more freely available TMTs per category from a pre-selected list in each of three categories: (1) keyword/phrase tools: AntConc, PubReMiner; (2) subject term tools: MeSH on Demand, PubReMiner, Yale MeSH Analyzer; and (3) strategy evaluation tools: Carrot2, VOSviewer. We collected results from both MEDLINE searches (with and without TMTs), coded every citation’s origin (UP or TMT respectively), deduplicated them, and then sent the citation library to the review team for screening. When the draft report was submitted, we used the final list of included citations to calculate the sensitivity, precision, and number-needed-to-read for each search (with and without TMTs). Separately, we tracked the time spent on various aspects of search creation by each librarian. Simple and complex topics were analyzed separately to provide insight into whether TMTs could be more useful for one type of topic or another. Results: Across all reviews, UP searches seemed to perform better than TMT, but because of the small sample size, none of these differences was statistically significant. UP searches were slightly more sensitive (92% [95% confidence intervals (CI) 85–99%]) than TMT searches (84.9% [95% CI 74.4–95.4%]). The mean number-needed-to-read was 83 (SD 34) for UP and 90 (SD 68) for TMT. Keyword and subject term development using TMTs generally took less time than those developed using UP alone. The average total time was 12 hours (SD 8) to create a complete search strategy by UP librarians, and 5 hours (SD 2) for the TMT librarians. TMTs neither affected search evaluation time nor improved identification of exclusion concepts (irrelevant records) that can be safely removed from the search set. Conclusion: Across all reviews but one, TMT searches were less sensitive than UP searches. For simple SR topics (i.e., single indication–single drug), TMT searches were slightly less sensitive, but reduced time spent in search design. For complex SR topics (e.g., multicomponent interventions), TMT searches were less sensitive than UP searches; nevertheless, in complex reviews, they identified unique eligible citations not found by the UP searches. TMT searches also reduced time spent in search strategy development. For all evidence synthesis types, TMT searches may be more efficient in reviews where comprehensiveness is not paramount, or as an adjunct to UP for evidence syntheses, because they can identify unique includable citations. If TMTs were easier to learn and use, their utility would be increased.

BackgroundPatents are important intellectual property protecting technological innovations that inspire efficient research and development in biomedicine. The number of awarded patents serves as an important indicator of economic growth and technological innovation. Researchers have mined patents to characterize the focuses and trends of technological innovations in many fields.ObjectiveTo expand patent mining to biomedicine and facilitate future resource allocation in biomedical research for the United States, we analyzed US patent documents to determine the focuses and trends of protected technological innovations across the entire disease landscape.MethodsWe analyzed more than 5 million US patent documents between 1995 and 2017, using summary statistics and dynamic topic modeling. More specifically, we investigated the disease coverage and latent topics in patent documents over time. We also incorporated the patent data into the calculation of our recently developed Research Opportunity Index (ROI) and Public Health Index (PHI), to recalibrate the resource allocation in biomedical research.ResultsOur analysis showed that protected technological innovations have been primarily focused on socioeconomically critical diseases such as “other cancers” (malignant neoplasm of head, face, neck, abdomen, pelvis, or limb; disseminated malignant neoplasm; Merkel cell carcinoma; and malignant neoplasm, malignant carcinoid tumors, neuroendocrine tumor, and carcinoma in situ of an unspecified site), diabetes mellitus, and obesity. The United States has significantly improved resource allocation to biomedical research and development over the past 17 years, as illustrated by the decreasing PHI. Diseases with positive ROI, such as ankle and foot fracture, indicate potential research opportunities for the future. Development of novel chemical or biological drugs and electrical devices for diagnosis and disease management is the dominating topic in patented inventions.ConclusionsThis multifaceted analysis of patent documents provides a deep understanding of the focuses and trends of technological innovations in disease management in patents. Our findings offer insights into future research and innovation opportunities and provide actionable information to facilitate policy makers, payers, and investors to make better evidence-based decisions regarding resource allocation in biomedicine.

Search filters for systematic reviews and meta-analyses in sleep medicine.

This paper describes a modeling approach that simulates the impacts of different climate change mitigation technologies on power grids for power system planning purposes. Because the historical data is less credible when new technologies are being deployed to the system, it is then critical to model them to address their impacts. This paper illustrates how to integrate modeling results obtained from different modeling tools to give a reasonable forecast of the future. Building simulation tools, distribution power grid modeling tools, and power system planning tools are used to model and aggregate the impacts from the end-use to the system level. Electricity generation, production cost, emission, and transmission congestions are used to quantify the influence of different mitigation technologies. Modeling results have shown that the cross-discipline modeling approach provided the modeler with the necessary time resolution and input details to address the variables that influence the modeling results. Different modeling issues are also addressed in the paper.

Climate change mitigation technologies have been a focus in reducing atmospheric carbon levels for the past few years. One such mitigation technology is pyrolysis, where biomass feedstocks are combusted at elevated temperatures for varying durations to produce three main products: biochar, bio-oil, and biogas. While bio-oil and biogas are typically used to produce energy via further combustion, biochar can be used in several different applications. Furthermore, using forest harvest residues as a feedstock for biochar production helps use excess biomass from the forestry industry that was previously assumed unmarketable. In our study, we combined forest carbon analysis modelling with cradle-to-gate life cycle emissions to determine the greenhouse gas emissions of biochar produced from forest harvest residues. We examined three collection scenarios, spanning two harvesting methods in one forest management unit in northern Ontario, Canada. From our analysis, we observed immediate reductions (− 0.85 tCO2eq·tbiochar−1 in year 1) in CO2-equivalent emissions (CO2eq) when producing biochar from forest harvest residues that would have undergone controlled burning, without considering the end use of the biochar. For the forest harvest residues that would remain in-forest to decay over time, producing biochar would increase overall emissions by about 6 tCO2eq·tbiochar−1. Throughout the 100-year timeframe examined–in ascending order of cumulative emissions–scenario ranking was: full tree harvesting with slash pile burn < full tree harvesting with slash pile decay < cut-to-length/tree-length harvesting.Graphical

Biochar is a promising carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technology for climate change mitigation. Current procedures for its determination are lengthy, labor-intensive, and difficult to conduct. Benzene polycarboxylic acids (BPCA) are the most promising molecular markers for identification and quantification of biochar and its quality as they specifically represent the stable polyaromatic backbone of biochar. Therefore, using the BPCA method, its stability and, thus, its C sequestration potential could be used for CDR accounting. The current BPCA method relies on a specific high-pressure digestion apparatus, which is not available around the world. Therefore, the aims of the present work were (i) to compare the conventional high-pressure nitric acid oxidation with a microwave-assisted digestion technique and optimize the oxidation conditions in such a way that previous results are comparable with future ones, and (ii) to significantly reduce the digestion time of soil samples of 8 h and to develop a suitable routine method that produces comparable and reproducible results. For this purpose, soil and control sample series were prepared for different temperature–time-program. Obtained results were compared with the values of the conventional method both for individual samples and for the whole dataset separately. To ensure the representativeness of the results, in addition to various soil samples with different properties, we included two reference materials into our data set, one without biochar (wheat flour) and a biochar sample. Our results showed that conventional nitric acid oxidation in the BPCA determination at 170 °C and 8 h can be substituted by digestion in a microwave reaction system (CEM Mars6) at 190 °C and 1 h. Our results further showed that this condition needs to be strictly matched, because, otherwise, over- or underestimation of biochar quantity and/or quality will be the consequence. The goal of a less time-consuming BPCA extraction from soil samples was achieved by reducing the extraction time from 8 to 1 h using the microwave-assisted method. However, one disadvantage of the new method is that five times more sample material and chemicals are needed for further BPCA analysis, compared to the original method.

Although Direct Air Capture (DAC) of CO2 is a potential technology for climate change mitigation, the cost, scalability, and efficiency of existing materials and techniques are severely limited. MXenes, a type of two-dimensional materials, have drawn interest due to their remarkable conductivity, enormous surface area, and adjustable chemistry, however, their potential for DAC has not yet been thoroughly investigated. Recent developments in MXene synthesis and functionalization are comprehensively reviewed, with an emphasis on how these characteristics might be used to enhance improve CO2 adsorption and capture efficiency. In addition, the difficulties of stability, scalability, and economic feasibility for real-world applications are evaluated. Our findings demonstrate the great potential of MXenes for DAC and offer fresh perspectives on how their special qualities might overcome current constraints. This study presents a new viewpoint on MXenes as a feasible CO2 capture option, indicating new avenues for future research and development, even though further optimization is required.

The economic viability of eco-friendly and renewable materials promotes the development of an alternative technology for climate change mitigation. Investigations reported over the past few years have allowed understanding the mechanism of action for a wide spectrum of saccharides toward carbon dioxide (CO2), in terms of reactivity, reversibility, stability and uptake. Exploiting bio-renewables, viz., inedible saccharides, to reduce the anthropogenic carbon footprint upon providing a sustainable and promising technology that is of interest to different groups of scientists, to overcome demerits associated with the current state-of-the-art aqueous amine scrubbing agents, following a "green chemistry guideline", by employing materials with properties relevant to the environment toward sustainable development. The interdisciplinary nature of research in this area provides a large body of literature that would meet the interest of the broad readership of different multidisciplinary fields. Although many reports emphasize the use of biomass in various industrial products ranging from pharmaceutics, medical preparations, soaps, textiles, cosmetics, household cleaners, and so on, to our knowledge there is no focused article that addresses the application of saccharides for CO2 sequestration. In this review, we highlight the recent advances on the use of oligo-, poly- and cyclic saccharides to achieve a reversible binding of CO2. The future research directions are discussed to provide insight toward achieving sustainable development through implementing bio-renewables.

The Sequestration Training, Outreach, Research and Education (STORE) Alliance at The University of Texas at Austin completed its activity under Department of Energy Funding (DE-FE0002254) on September 1, 2013. The program began as a partnership between the Institute for Geophysics, the Bureau of Economic Geology and the Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering Department at UT. The initial vision of the program was to promote better understanding of CO2 utilization and storage science and engineering technology through programs and opportunities centered on training, outreach, research and technology transfer, and education. With over 8,000 hrs of formal training and education (and almost 4,500 of those hours awarded as continuing education credits) to almost 1,100 people, STORE programs and activities have provided benefits to the Carbon Storage Program of the Department of Energy by helping to build a skilled workforce for the future CCS and larger energy industry, and fostering scientific public literacy needed to continue the U.S. leadership position in climate change mitigation and energy technologies and application. Now in sustaining mode, the program is housed at the Center for Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, and benefits from partnerships with the Gulf Coast Carbon Center, TOPCORP and other programs at the university receiving industry funding.

This study investigates the role of technological innovation in increasing the effectiveness of the Kyoto Protocol in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation. Panel data showing the number of patents for climate change mitigation technology as a measure of innovation are obtained from 54 countries for the period 1990–2015 to verify whether technological innovation is effective in reducing GHG emissions and whether it has a significant synergetic relationship with the Kyoto Protocol. The historical trends in the number of patents for climate change mitigation technology reveal a relationship between the Kyoto Protocol and technological innovation and show differences between specific types of mitigation technology. Based on these innovation data, this study conducts two-stage least squares analysis that considers the time-lag effect. The empirical results confirm that mitigation innovations for buildings and the production or processing of goods have a strong positive association with GHG emission reduction. The findings also support the long-term synergetic effect between innovation and participation in the Kyoto Protocol in terms of GHG mitigation. This study contributes to international climate change governance by providing empirical evidence for technological innovation’s role in strengthening the effectiveness of international regimes and implications for promoting open innovation.