Trends in hydrogen

The IP Australia Patent Analytics Hub recently published its report called The Power of Hydrogen. The report analyses global patent filings between 2010 and 2020 to identify trends and commercial players in the hydrogen technology globally. The report looks at innovation in hydrogen production, utilisation and storage.
Between 2010 and 2020, there were 32,885 patent families filed for hydrogen technologies, with the number of filings increasing steadily from 2014. 77% of these applications are in an active state, meaning they are in force or seeking patent protection, while 76% patent families have a patent application granted in at least one jurisdiction. With so few patent families lapsing, expiring or being withdrawn, it reflects the recent activity in this space and the high level of commercial interest in hydrogen technologies.  
Hydrogen technologies that lead in patent family filings globally include:

• Hydrogen production (18,611) which includes technologies that define alternate methods of sourcing and producing hydrogen and research and development to improve the efficiency and power the costs of energy production. This includes electrolysis (8,059), fossils fuel conversion (6,174), biomass and waste conversion (2,971), biological hydrogen production (2,405), photochemical and photocatalytic (1,912) and thermal water splitting (729);
• Hydrogen utilisation (13,178) technologies that are the end uses for hydrogen power. These include industrial processes, hydrogen-generated electricity, hydrogen-powered transportation, gas blending, hydrogen used in thermal storage and hydrogen export; and 
• Hydrogen storage and distribution (3,166) which involves increasing hydrogen density, allowing storage at atmospheric pressures and transportation at ambient temperatures. These include hydrogen in a chemical carrier (2,485) and high density hydrogen in a compressed or liquefied form (720).  

The countries leading hydrogen patent filings are China (17,264), USA (6,348), Japan (5,258 and South Korea (2,341). Of those filed in China, less than 5% were international (PCT) applications. Leading the way in international applications was the USA, with 87% of their applications filed using the PCT. Australian applications mainly sought protection domestically, with some also claiming protection in the USA, China, Europe, Canada, Japan, Republic of Korea, Brazil, Russian Federation, Mexico, Singapore, South Africa, New Zealand, India and Philippines. 
In Australia, 193 patent facilities were filed, placing us 16th globally. Of these filings 74% are in an active state and 131 have had their patent application granted in at least one jurisdiction. The leading categories of hydrogen technology patent families filed in Australia related to production were electrolysis (60),fossil fuels conversion (33), biomass and waste conversion (30), photochemical and photocatalytic (20), thermal water splitting (14) and biological (12). For storage and distribution the patent family filings were chemical (22) and compression (4). For utilisation the patent family filings were industrial processes (29), transport (21), export (11), electricity generation (8), gas blending (8) and heat storage (2).  
The organisations that filed the most patent families included China Petroleum Corporate (1,313), Chinese Academy of Sciences (688), Saudi Arabian Oil Company (280), Toyota Motor Corporation (278), Panasonic Corporation (253), Linde Plc (240), Toto Ltd (236), L’air Liquide Societe (224) and Honda Motor Company (204). The largest filers in Australia were the CSIRO (16), Aquahydrex (9), Mr James Cooper (8), Monash University (7), Hydrexia (6) and Mr Anthony Bretton (5). Both James Cooper and Anthony Bretton are inventor-applicants affiliated with Renewable Hydrogen Pty Ltd. Foreign corporations seeking protection in Australia included Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp, Topsoe Holdings A/S, Linde Plc and L’Air Liquide Societe. 
The report highlights the importance of hydrogen in the future energy infrastructure and resilience in Australia and globally. Hydrogen innovation is expected to continue to grow in the future and Australia is well placed in capability to take advantage of this growing industry.