Alternative Energy

Field definition

Basic Definition

"According to New Energy Finance, the clean energy sector grew to over $148 billion in 2007, up forty-one percent from 2006 despite the last summer’s credit crunch."(Ward et all, 2008)
The alternative energy sector is defined by technology that produces energy while causing less environmental damage than traditional means of energy production, such as fossil fuels. "Cleantech is commonly understood as an array of distinct technologies, services, and products aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants while promoting energy efficiency and the conservation of natural resources. These technologies include wind, solar, and geothermal energy generation, biofuels, energy storage, nuclear, and new pollution-pollution abatement, recycling, clean coal, and water technologies." (Ward et all, 2008)
Its importance is not only environmental, but also geopolitical. The goal of energy security - a deeper politicized issue - can be understood by the USA objectives of reducing the dependency on foreign sources of fossil fuels and controlling prices, and achieving a diversity of energy supplies.
The technologies that form alternative energy vary immensity in type, innovation cycles, maturity and technoeconomic readiness.
"In sum, technological alternatives to fossil fuels do exist or can be realized. But few are technically or economically ready for deployment on the huge scale needed to make a dent in the demand for fossil fuels. Some are operating on a limited commercial scale, while others now exist only in the laboratory. To cite a few examples of what we can see today, solar photovoltaics are still too expensive, carbon capture and sequestration require prototyping and validation at a huge scale, batteries must realize further materials and cost advances, and fuel cells for transport applications face years of experimentation. Aside from the major research needed to keep rolling out advances for these technologies to cut costs and improve effi ciencies, there is a need for ongoing research to seek breakthroughs, especially if we decide we need to go beyond stabilizing the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere at current levels by mid-century." (pg 5) (Weiss and Bonvillian 2009)
The main actors in this sector are government agencies, universities, and Alternative Energy Companies. Venture capitalists, nonprofit organizations, environmental advocates, and attorneys all play important supporting roles. "Taken together, these technologies will still require massive investment, involving extensive collaboration between business, government, and universities" (pg 6) (Weiss and Bonvillian 2009)
Conferences and State Task Forces provide important collaboration opportunities. Identification of challenges and opportunities for projects may be established at these meetings and collaboration continues through email contact and conference calls. Government agencies and universities appear to be more eager to participate in data sharing than energy companies who are less consistent in sharing their data. While there may be differences between the main actors when it comes to data and research sharing, collaboration on policy appears to be strong from all the actors in this sector.
An example of industry collaboration can be seen in the “Iowa Alliance for Wind Innovation and Novel Development” which is a partnership between “state and local governments, the community colleges, universities, the private sector, associations and community organizations, and the federal government.”
The information above is largely the result of impressions of the alternative energy sector collected through research and experience.

Focus Market Segments

Wind
- Wind energy refers generally to the utilization of wind for generating power with turbine technology. Effective wind power generation is related to the performance of wind turbines, which are capable of adjusting the blade angles and orientation such that the angle of attack with respect to the wind direction is changed to increase energy capture.Following the recent push for wind power to be a mainstream player in the world’s energy markets, there is an increasing need to improve reliability and turbine performance, and to develop technologies for effective largescale wind plants. It is certain that increased development efforts and innovation will be required to expand the wind energy industry. See: Wind Energy Multiyear Program Plan For 2007-2012 and other reports
Solar
- "solar energy development is moving solar technologies on a path toward full competitiveness with conventional power generation. One example of solar technologies is photovoltaic cells, which convert sunlight directly into electricity and are made of semiconductors such as crystalline silicon or various other thin-film materials. Another example is concentrating solar power technologies, which use reflective materials to concentrate the sun’s heat energy, ultimately driving a generator to produce electricity. These technologies include dish/engine systems, parabolic troughs, and central power towers. To overcome the cost-effective challenges of solar energy, there is an intense interest in developing new materials, photovoltaic cell designs, and large-scale solar energy systems." (Ward et al, 2008)
Tidal

Deprioritized Market Segments

Geothermal energy generation
Biofuels
Nuclear
Clean coal
Other Water technologies

Excluded From Field Definition

Energy storage New pollution-pollution abatement Recycling Cleaning technologies

Study of the field

Analysis of the field with basis on Field Research Methodology

Overview of Economics of Intellectual Property in AE
Give an overall picture of the AE field
Outputs and Products of the field: data, narratives and tools produced by the AE field
Legal tools available for and in use by the actors of AE field: IP in AE
competitive advantages in AE
IP Profile of Biggest for-profit companies in AE
IP Profile of non-profit companies in AE
IP Profile of Universities working in AE
IP Profile of Associations in AE
Commons based cases in AE

Bibliographies Addressing Research Outline

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Resources

Special Case Studies in AE

Under this section we will explore possible special case studies that will be later trasformed in papers under AE Field Intellectual Property Profile.