Green Energy, The Future
Aug 22, 2022
The United Nations has set goals known as [Sustainable Development Goals](https://iplab.legal/india-world-guru-sustainable-development-goals-growing-economy/) (SDG). The [SDG 7](https://www.unep.org/explore-topics/sustainable-development-goals/why-do-sustainable-development-goals-matter/goal-7) is for affordable clean energy. This [affordable clean energy](https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/25762/SDG7_Brief.pdf?sequence=1\&isAllowed=y) target of SDG 7 is to be achieved by 2030. The depleting and fast-becoming obsolete fossil fuels have remained the root cause for the greenhouse gases polluting our planet. Fossil fuels are also responsible for the rise in temperature which if continued unchecked would lead to the North and South Poles becoming bereft of the ice cover. It may also cause the extinction of a number of life forms also. [Corporate Social Responsibility](https://www.unido.org/our-focus/advancing-economic-competitiveness/competitive-trade-capacities-and-corporate-responsibility/corporate-social-responsibility-market-integration/what-csr) (CSR) is not merely a corporate law imposed compulsion for social welfare. It is an opportunity to turn bottlenecks in the progress and development of viable tools and methods to tackle the same. The gradual transition from fossil fuel to electric automobiles to hydrogen fuel-cell propelled automobiles appears to be a tactical business decision for consuming the fossil fuel-based automobiles machinery inventory. The entire fossil fuels-based ecosystem is melting in its own heat. The [International Renewable Energy Agency](https://www.irena.org/) (IRENA) [video](http://bit.ly/3quV8Gz) conveys this message. *“Energy is fundamental to our civilisation and to the prosperity of nations. Its production, distribution, and utilization are deeply embedded in the fabric of our economies and central to the relations between states”.* This statement of IRENA Director-General Mr. [Adnan Z. Amin](https://www.renewable-ei.org/en/innovation_nw/exp38.html) in two sentences sum-up the zero-carbon-based ecology. The fact that still, over 3 billion people depend on wood, coal, charcoal, or animal waste for cooking or heating, would be a challenge to include in the new developing green energy world order. According to a [report](https://www.inputmag.com/tech/bmw-toyota-hydrogen-car-partnership-electric-vehicles), BMW will be mass-producing and selling fuel-cell EVs made with Toyota as early as 2025. Toyota is the world leader in hydrogen-consuming automobiles. [International Patent Classification](https://www.wipo.int/classifications/ipc/en/) (IPC) Code H01M 8 is for fuel cells. According to IPC, a fuel cell is an electrochemical generator wherein the reactants are supplied from outside. The hydrogen fuel cell uses hydrogen and oxygen to create electricity. The efficiency of the hydrogen fuel cells is much higher than the combustion engines using fossil fuels. The fuel cell tech uses hydrogen bond energy for converting chemical energy into electric energy. The fuel cells emit only heat and water that causes zero pollution. The [PatSeer](https://patseer.com/) IPC H01M 8 search shows 1091 published patent results between Jan 1, 2015, and Aug 20, 2022. The branch-wise distribution of these patent publications is as follows: The dominance of electrical, mechanical, and chemical tech domains makes it apparent that electrochemical reactions are going to provide new, clean, and environmentally friendly energy means. Toyota Motors has maintained its leadership as shown in the graph below taken from [WIPO’s Hydrogen Fuel Cells in Transportation, Patent Landscape Report](https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo-pub-1076-en-patent-landscape-report-hydrogen-fuel-cells-in-transportation.pdf): The gulf countries provided fossil fuel to fulfill the energy needs of the industrial age and amassed prosperity. China, Japan, the USA, South Korea, and Germany hold 89% of the fuel-cell patents. Without natural resources like iron ore, necessary for even thinking of the automobile industry, Japan wins prosperity share through technological advancements. In the times ahead, as the WIPO Report on Hydrogen Fuel Cell envisages the roadmap till 2050, the probability of more prosperity emanating from both green energy and green energy propelled automobiles can be predicted for these countries. The European Union is committed to becoming the 1st Carbon-neutral continent by 2050. In the year 2020, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the Russian Federation, Spain, and the EU have adopted Hydrogen Strategy. In the year 2021, it was followed by the Czech Republic, Colombia, Hungry, and the United Kingdom. The name of the highest fuel cell patent filing country China and the nation thriving on technology dominance, the USA not adopting the Hydrogen Strategy gives confusing signals. The missing of Japan in these 24 countries should not surprise. Japan was the first country in the year 2017 to adopt a basic Hydrogen Strategy. Although the Hydrogen fuel cell wave has come faster than expected by most, it cannot be forecasted that even if the fuel cell tech worked wonderfully, it would help in achieving the containment of global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. It is not just automobiles, or mass passenger carriers like railroads or airplanes, there is industrial pollution that comes mostly from the first world countries. This may be the reason for the USA not adopting the Hydrogen Strategy. Taking a step further, the hydrogen fuel cell tech can be divided into 7 sub-domains on the basis of the filed patents. Among the sub-domain of fuel cell tech, the proton exchange membrane appears as the most dominating technology. It may be said that the proton exchange membrane fuel cell is a refined form of nuclear technology. The [WIPO Report on Hydrogen Fuel Cell Tech for transportation](https://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2022/article_0006.html) depicts both the sub-domain and the dominance of the countries in the sub-domains: The [Top 10 Countries](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-country) with the Highest Greenhouse Gas Emissions (in million metric tons, 2019 data): 	1 [China](https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/china-population) — 9,877 	2 [United States](https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/united-states-population) — 4,745 	3 [India](https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/india-population) — 2,310 	4 [Russia](https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/russia-population) — 1,640 	5 [Japan](https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/japan-population) — 1,056 	6 [Germany](https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/germany-population) — 644 	7 [South Korea](https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/south-korea-population) — 586 	8 [Iran](https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/iran-population) — 583 	9 [Canada](https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/canada-population) — 571 	10 [Saudi Arabia](https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/saudi-arabia-population) — 495 Out of these ten countries only 3 countries have adopted Hydrogen Strategy. The other interesting point is that only India and Iran are developing countries, the rest are developed countries. On the flip side for the third world, the dependency of the poor will have no effect on hydrogen fuel cells as the same would be out of their economic reach. The United Nations estimates that 9.7 billion people would be living in this world by 2050. Most of the poor would be living in the third world. The mere survival of whatever is available and accessible would be countered as a root cause for the neutralising the net-zero carbon efforts of the developed world. It may be that till then this much understanding would be developed at the international level that the environment does not follow political boundaries. The green future is only possible by cooperation and coexistence without any political barriers. [#WIPO \#HydrogenFuelCell \#GreenEnergy \#Net-ZeroCarbon \#HydrogenStrategy \#Toyota \#PatSeer \#SDG7 \#UN \#IRENA \#AdnanZAmin \#FossilFuel \#Survival \#Prosperity](<#WIPO 
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