What is Green Innovation?

The effects of the environmental problems have changed the shape of the earth, with societies disintegrating as a result of their negative effects.

Moving toward a future where humans and nature coexist is necessary right now. Only with the inventiveness and resiliency of the human spirit can Earth restore itself after upheavals.

Green innovation is one such advancement. It's a special chance to go green that also provides room for expansion, cost savings, productivity, and profitability.

Many businesses are now focusing on green innovation to help build a greener future as a result of an increase in green consumers.

Innovation that respects the sustainability of the environment and the needs of future generations, as well as advances sustainable development and natural regeneration, is especially important at the product, material, and manufacturing process levels.

The development of innovative, competitive goods, services, methods, and systems aimed at minimizing the use of natural resources and improving everyone's quality of life.

The development and spread of technology tools to address climate change.

All forms of inventions that minimize environmental harm and ensure that natural resources are used as efficiently as possible are referred to as “Green Innovation.“

It's one of those procedures that raises a business's performance in terms of its economy, environment, and competitiveness. Considerations include reduced energy use, trash recycling, pollution management, resource sustainability, and green product design.

Due to the following traits, green innovation typically sets itself apart from non-green innovations -

It lessens harmful environmental effects.

A system, a technique, a service, or a product are the objectives of innovation.

It satisfies client expectations while maintaining market competitiveness.

In order to provide a green offering, the complete product life cycle is taken into account.

It is supported by economic or environmental factors.

Importance of Green Innovation

Why do businesses frequently favor green innovation? This is due to many factors, including opportunities presented by implementing environmental management programs as well as strict legislation and market pressure.

Through a decrease in waste, expense, and other inefficiencies, it improves economic and social performance.

It draws in new clients. 66 percent of respondents indicated in the Nielsen Global Corporate Sustainability Report that they would be prepared to pay more for environmentally friendly goods. According to a Harris Interactive study, 77 percent of American people buy green goods and services.

Businesses employ green innovation in the manufacturing process to cut down on costs and production time.

It strengthens one’s standing in the market and gives them an advantage over rivals.

Green innovation results in innovations. One of the most well-known sportswear companies in the world, for instance, is Patagonia. To reduce their carbon footprint, they constructed repair facilities. From 2016 Black Friday sales, they gave radical environmental organizations $10 million.

Types of Green Innovation

Green innovation can be divided into three categories based on how it is implemented and its potential outcomes - which are:

Green technology that lessens an organization's environmental impact. (by repurposing and reusing items)

Innovation that is environmentally friendly and addresses the business's worries. (By reducing the use of dangerous substances)

Green innovation that creates eco-friendly items and makes use of efficient procedures. (By consuming less energy or resources)

Businesses, large and small, have been compelled to become more environmentally friendly by the shifting business climate and client demands. Today, green innovation can be found in practically every area, but let's take a look at some well-known businesses who are pursuing it.

Green Innovation Pursuers

Pavegen: Making Way For A Future That Is More Sustainable

Laurence Kemball-Cook established Pavegen with the intention of converting kinetic energy from people's everyday activity into electrical energy. Generators beneath the tiles rotate as a result of people walking over the top surface, creating power using electromagnetic induction. It generates around 3 joules every step, or 5 watts of continuous power. Local uses like illumination, sensors, and data collecting and transmission can be powered by this energy, or it can be stored in batteries.

Carbon Nanotubes: A Potential Solution for Plastic Issues

While efforts are being made to address the plastic issue on a global scale, Singapore's BlueRen Company went above and above. Engineers at BlueRen have created a manufacturing process that turns waste plastics into carbon nanotubes that are more durable than titanium. These nanotubes will be used to help with the design of Singapore's skyscrapers and other structures. A carbon nanotube is a very small cylinder-shaped carbon molecule that is 10,000 times thinner than a human hair strand.

How can Green Innovation be achieved?

Its both a challenge and an opportunity. Many businesses are currently reviewing their internal procedures to improve the environmental profile of their product lifecycle, from the sourcing of raw materials to the usage and disposal at the end. However, switching to green innovation isn't simple.

A corporation requires a clear road map as a result to have the most possible influence.

Start with tiny adjustments: New businesses must start their road towards environmentally friendly innovation by making modest adjustments to their product development and production processes within a set procedure.

Decide on the necessary course of action: This entails new equipment, new production-line concepts, and new raw materials that are both economic and environmentally friendly. Though it will take some effort, incorporating the "Green Element" into conventional ways of thinking is not impossible.

Establish professional ties with groups and stakeholders who have received funding in the past: The goal of going green for the business can be accomplished by building a network of potential partners. It will present the business with greater prospects in the future by opening new doors.

Barriers to Green Innovation

Lack of Urgency: Due to the risk that long-term projects pose to immediate profitability, many businesses perceive a general lack of urgency.

Some companies make the mistake of concentrating on improving the 1% of the environmental impact of their products while ignoring the remaining 99%. The company's credibility could be harmed by this.

Fear of losing control: For a business to successfully collaborate, it must also get over its fear of losing control of its business. In a perfect partnership, both parties seek out terms that are advantageous to both.

Lack of revenue: Because the costs associated with environmental enforcement are so expensive, some businesses may not have enough income to move to green innovation.

Fear of failure: To avoid the embarrassment of admitting that their efforts were failed, several businesses are reluctant to examine present practices.

Collaborations that have been developed by businesses like IBM allow for the advancement of environmental goals while offering them an advantage over their competitors.

Green Innovation & Intellectual Property

Patents are essential for promoting innovation and financial investment in green technologies.

Patents grant businesses a portion of the added value of the inventions they create and the capital they make to develop and promote them. These rights are temporary and exclusive. Additionally, they serve as value signal generators, especially for potential partners and investors. Patents support many forms of technological cooperation and logical alliances, which promote technological spread and advancement.

For instance, working together with startups and the government might assist address climate concerns while expanding small enterprises. The University of Cambridge (2019) found that whenever a government agency is involved in the creation of green technology, the patenting activity of new green technology startup companies in the US increases by an average of more than 73%. Granted patents also help to some extent to justify technology investment.

With each new patent that is released, the compilation of patents grows into a library of the most cutting-edge and reliable knowledge about the most recent technology. It develops into a repository of data and expertise that other organizations can utilize to regionalize innovations, such as solar energy technology created in the UK that can be applied to solar energy-rich nations like Egypt and Libya.

Trade secrets are a crucial component of how green technology spreads in any nation.

Confidential information that cannot be patented or is strategically protected as a trade secret rather than being patented is referred to as a trade secret. It always has a high commercial value. By creating a secure environment for the dissemination of proprietary knowledge, trade secrets serve a crucial role in protecting the routes for knowledge exchange.

For instance, the US Government has taken legal action against Chinese firms for stealing trade secrets from American Superconductor Corporation and Solar World, two companies that specialize in renewable energy. Trade secrets frequently shield unspoken information about the methods for implementing, enhancing, and modifying patented technologies. For both industrialized and developing countries that need to adapt green technologies to their local conditions, trade secrets linked to green technologies are likely to be essential.

Without strong trade secret protection, businesses may find that they are spending a lot of money on the physical security of their secrets rather than on technological advancements. Investment in R&D has been shown to be positively correlated with improved trade secret protection.

Road to Green IP

Through open innovation, IP serves as a source of invention and spread.

Green technology frequently falls under the category of "open innovation," in which businesses collaborate with external stakeholders and partners to improve innovation. Because environmental technologies frequently involve a high level of complexity and because environmental and climate change issues are of global significance, open innovation supported by strong intellectual property rights protection is necessary to accelerate the development and adoption of these technologies.

Collaborations between the public and private sectors, as well as research institutions and organizations, have accelerated the development and adoption of green technologies. One of these agreements is WIPO Green. Another is the Eco-Patents Commons project launched by Pitney Bowes, IBM, Nokia, Sony, and Sony. With the aim of promoting the spread of beneficial green technology, such as energy saving, pollution prevention, recycling, and water conservation, this non-profit project was founded in 2008 and offers royalty-free access to a variety of patents covering eco-friendly products.

Scalability in green technologies is made possible by stronger IP rights.

Since the early 2000s, according to the Clean Energy Patent Growth Index, there has been an increase in the number of green patent applications across the globe, with the majority concentrating on alternative and renewable energy sources like wind, sun, geothermal, hybrid cars, and biofuels. A vivid illustration is provided by the recently awarded patent of the French green chemistry business Carbios, which describes a biotechnological method for recycling PET plastic waste.

Creation, adaptation, and distribution of green technology are made possible by IP protection. Climate change is a fact, and nonrenewable resources are limited. In order to build new global environmental policies, it is essential to move to a more sustainable lifestyle based on green technologies; a key component of this process is greater IP rights protection.

It is essential as businesses we focus on leaving a better world for the generations to come and play our part in making the world a better place to live in…

For further information on the latest breakthroughs, developments & trends on GREEN TECHNOLOGIES & how we can help you GO GREEN -  Please feel free to write to us at: info@effectualservices.com

Effectual’s GREEN INNVOATION research framework is a deep dive into this ecosystem that shall help you understand the intricacies of this nascent innovative domain with insights backed with credible data sources