The Green Technology Book aims to inspire climate action by showing what solutions innovation and technology can provide. We showcase examples of proven, frontier and horizon technologies identified through broad searches and chosen according to relevant criteria.
The Green Technology Book 2023 is for anyone who has ever wondered about climate mitigation technologies and wanted to know more. It is for those seeking tangible solutions for building homes, providing food and transforming industries, without contributing to the global climate disaster. It is for those curious to know precisely what mitigation technologies are available today and in the near future – and, importantly, how to access them. It is also for those seeking to invest, and for those who design our cities, transport and agricultural systems, and for those leading our communities and countries along a low-carbon path.
By showing examples of solutions, we aim to inspire action. The Green Technology Book is not a comprehensive collection of all mitigation technologies available. Nor does it cover all those many areas where mitigation technologies could be relevant. This year’s Green Technology Book chooses instead to focus on three broad areas where we believe climate change mitigation is and will be particularly critical. They are cities, agriculture and land use, and industry. Energy as a sector in itself is not included, simply because it is too large a topic to fit into this edition.
We welcome greater visibility for local innovation, especially from those countries most affected by climate change. Often the best technology may not be the one on the market. It may instead be the one available locally but not widely known, maybe reviving ancient skills and insights. The Green Technology Book is more than a catalogue meant for inspiration – it is a living project to which everyone can contribute. This publication links to the free public WIPO GREEN Database of needs and green technologies, where users can create a profile and share their climate solutions and needs.
How we wrote the book
For the purposes of this publication, we considered a broad set of scientific articles, gray literature, together with technology databases developed by private, public and civil society entities and organizations. Search strings included broad terms related to climate mitigation paired with key terms for the three thematic areas, and key terms related to specific technologies (“heat pumps,” “soil carbon,” “direct reduced iron” and so on). Translation engines enabled us to search articles in several languages to ensure a broad geographical spread.
Owners of the technologies identified were contacted, and all have been uploaded to the WIPO GREEN Database of needs and green technologies, either by the technology owner or by us at WIPO.
How we found the technologies
Throughout the publication, we operate with three concepts: innovation, solution, and technology. While sometimes used almost interchangeably, they do have different meanings. We here use the term innovation to cover all intellectual creativity that could result in a solution. Solution is broadly taken to mean the deployment of an innovation output to solve a specific challenge. The third concept, technology, relates to any physical entity or technique, with or without additional equipment, that is deployed to resolve a specific challenge. We are primarily interested in a technology’s potential for responding to climate change impacts, ranging from the very simple to the highly complex. Often the scope of climate technologies is expanded to include enabling mechanisms such as ownership and the institutional arrangements that pertain to that technology (e.g., building codes or energy management systems). But, while recognizing the importance of such mechanisms, we focus primarily on tangible technologies or actual techniques.
It is important to emphasize that the technologies presented here have not been tested or in any way vetted by WIPO, and that we rely on publicly available material. Inclusion within the Green Technology Book is therefore not a recommendation of a particular technology. Technologies presented here should instead be seen simply as examples of a technology area, and that there may be many other similar offerings which to our knowledge are in no way inferior. Photos illustrating the technologies are reproduced with permission from the technology owners. When such permission could not be obtained, we have used relevant stock-photos, meaning photos of technologies may not always represent the actual technology example described.
The appropriateness of a technology is often highly context-specific and relates to factors other than geographical location. Therefore no recommendations on where, when or how the technologies are suitable have been provided. Such an assessment should always be made with the involvement of local experts and stakeholders. Technology owners can freely upload their technology to the WIPO GREEN Database and in doing so become part of the project.
The following criteria were used when selecting technologies for the Green Technology Book:
- relevance for climate change mitigation;
- relevance for the three thematic areas: 1) Cities, 2) Agriculture and land use, and 3) Industry;
- pertain to:
- a product or service available for purchase or licensing;
- a product or service available for free/open source;
- a guidebook on application of a method or technique;
- a research project or similar (for horizon technologies).
In addition, the following factors were taken into consideration:
- anticipated impact from implementation;
- availability of sufficient quality information or third-party endorsements;
- market availability (for proven and frontier technologies);
- cost in relation to impact;
- geographical balance;
- business balance (large- and small-scale businesses, start-ups, research teams, non-governmental organizations and so on);
- no harm principle.
We have divided technologies into three broad groups in order to indicate their maturity and availability. Proven technologies are those that have been on the market for some time and therefore rely on a tried and tested concept. Frontier technologies are those that are available, but still relatively new, and as such possibly less validated within a real-world setting. Horizon technologies are those new concepts currently at research or development stage expected to become available within a few years’ time.
Technologies have been classified in order to give an easy guide to relevance for a reader. We have aimed for a broad representation of technologies at various levels of complexity and stages of readiness. Technologies are classified as having either a low, medium or high level of complexity. This is an indication only and does not adhere to a strict definition of complexity. Rather, it reflects the level of human, material and monetary resources required to implement the solution in question. Meanwhile, technology maturity is broadly assessed according to the quasi-standard Technology Readiness Level (TRL) definition. According to this measure, horizon technologies have the lowest readiness level, but are nonetheless close to full development (TRL 2–6), whereas proven and frontier technologies have been validated and are ready to be scaled-up, if this has not already been done (TLR 7–9).
We hope you will be inspired by the creativity, ingenuity and diversity of the technologies here presented. We welcome any feedback and suggestions, which can be sent to us through the WIPO GREEN website.
Disclaimer
This publication, WIPO, and WIPO GREEN are in no way affiliated with any of the featured companies. Nor does this publication imply that other non-featured companies or technology solutions do not exist. All content in this publication is provided in good faith and based on information provided directly from the providers and/or using publicly available materials. Photos of technologies may not necessarily depict the actual technology. Therefore WIPO and WIPO GREEN disclaim any warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of any information provided. WIPO and WIPO GREEN are not responsible for any negative outcomes as a result of actions taken based on information in this publication.
URL Links
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