Anita Gogia is an IPilogue Writer and a 2L JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School.

Concrete jungles around the world illustrate the man-made burden on the planet. Concrete is a carbon-intensive ingredient in construction and makes up at least . When it comes to industrial processes, .

To resolve the issue and alleviate the output of greenhouse gasses, a cement-free concrete named EarthCrete is being developed by CarbonMeta. EarthCrete was recently assessed by researchers at Oxford and CarbonMeta Research who confirmed that EarthCrete is actually on July 26, 2022. Particularly, using emissions.

The pace to carbon-free construction is also accelerated by engineers and researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Pennsylvania State University who are using their federal grants to approach carbon-neutral cement manufacturing. The researchers hope to turn building material into a “.” In the system, carbon would be captured from the air by with rapid mineral carbonation. This technique would recycle industrial waste into a cement alternative. The researchers hope to create a long-lasting building material that extracts more CO₂ from the air than it emits.

Another grant has been provided to UIC, UW-Madison, and Fort Lewis College for the . Calcium hydroxide is a crucial ingredient in cement, and the low-temperature calcium hydroxide procedure (LoTECH) would create calcium hydroxide from industrial waste. Such (and the thermal decomposition of limestone), and act to further ��reduce the carbon footprint of cement production.

At the University of Colorado Boulder, , therefore creating another potential carbon-neutral concrete. The microalgae creates calcium carbonate through photosynthesis. Using sunlight, seawater or freshwater, and CO₂, microalgae produces calcium carbonate shells. The process is carbon neutral because the CO₂ emitted when used to make cement is equal to the CO₂ the microalgae absorbed. The biogenic limestone behaves the same as regular limestone which makes it feasible to incorporate into cement production. The researchers that this biogenic limestone would save two gigatons of CO₂ emissions yearly. The researchers also that the 1-2 million acres of open ponds in the US make it possible to produce enough biogenic limestone to satisfy cement demands.

In review of progresses to environmentally friendly cement, federal grants have played a crucial role. At a global scale, carbon-neutral or carbon-negative innovations will be the key to offsetting the damage done and accessing sustainable resources.

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Emily Xiang is an IPilogue Writer, the President of the Intellectual Property Society of Osgoode, and a 2L JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School.

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Decommissioning is the Future

In the energy sector, decommissioning refers to the practice of dismantling energy installations at the end of their life cycles when they no longer satisfy required standards of safety, security, regulation, economic viability, ethical considerations, or environmental integrity. This process may also involve removing, recycling, remanufacturing, storing, or disposing of specific compounds. Nuclear energy, coal and gas-fired energy, and renewable energy are currently the facing decommissioning. For example, wind turbines typically have a lifespan of approximately . As the lifespan of first-generation turbines comes to an end, new decommissioning issues in the renewable energy sector is making room for new patent opportunities as well. In some countries, old turbine blades are being repurposed for their strength and stability to . Some are also being re-developed or re-applied to extract fiberglass and other reusable materials from old blades, with a view to recycle them for future use in new turbines.

Current Challenges with Decommissioning

Unfortunately, decommissioning existing energy infrastructures in a cost-effective and environmentally sound manner comes with its fair share of challenges, many of which public and private stakeholders alike have overlooked. For instance, decommissioning policymakers will need to turn their minds to the , or the handling, transportation, reuse, recycling, and disposal of . The process of decommissioning is also sure to incur costs, but to execute their decommissioning projects effectively. There are also several associated with either restoring decommissioned sites to their original condition or preparing them for subsequent use. Moreover, the of many infrastructure sites raises logistical challenges concerning the mobilization of equipment and resources.��

Opportunities for Patents in the Decommissioning Sector

Patents form one avenue available to protect innovations that may address some of the current challenges related to decommissioning in the energy sector. Moreover, various mechanisms exist for expediting the application process for innovations that serve a particular purpose. For instance, , including an advanced examination of green technologies that help resolve or mitigate environmental impacts. Patent applicants that seek to address current environmental concerns with decommissioning may find themselves on a fast-tracked requisition course at no additional cost.��

However, the practice of regularly maintaining and renewing patents often comes with ongoing costs. Patent applicants and holders should be mindful of how their IP rights can be aligned with commercially profitable decommissioning activities worldwide to mitigate costs. , patent applications for inventions related to decommissioning may first be filed in countries such as Canada or the UK, where decommissioning activities are increasing and expedited avenues of examination for green technologies are currently available. Meanwhile, applications in other patenting jurisdictions in which energy infrastructures are still being developed or are still not yet nearing the end of their lifespans may be allowed to follow ordinary examination courses.��

Conclusion

��As older generation energy infrastructures near the end of their lifespans, the need for comprehensive decommissioning policies and novel innovations will only increase. Until recently, many of the challenges associated with decommissioning were , with stakeholder interests moreso focused on new builds or retrofit projects. Careful planning on the part of both operators and interested parties on the IP front will be essential in ensuring efficient and effective decommissioning projects.

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Leading the six-member Committee is IP Osgoode's founder & director, Prof. Pina D'Agostino, who is currently a Director of Alectra Inc.'s Board of Directors.

Click to read the full press release.

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The potential benefits of climate engineering technologies are massive, including the possibility of reducing temperatures immediately and reversing atmospheric greenhouse gases to pre-industrial levels in the matter of decades. Such technologies largely fall within two broad categories: solar radiation management (SRM) and carbon dioxide removal (CDR). SRM technologies can immediately reduce temperatures by reducing the amount of radiation received from the Sun. For example, SRM technologies range in their complexity from such things as putting , , to increasing the . SRM is a cost-effective solution to reducing temperatures but is only effective in the short term and do not confront climate change at its source. CDR technologies address global warming at its root by directly removing CO2 from the atmosphere, however, they tend to be more complex and expensive, and require decades of use before they have any significant effect. These technologies include, giant , and good old fashion trees.

Climate technologies, however, are not “one and done” solutions. These technologies need to be massively produced and deployed around the world to effectively mitigate climate change. This requires, among many things, an IP strategy designed to deliver (not just inspire) innovation, investment, production and cooperation between nations. Canada’s current strategy is to fast track patent applications that relate to clean technologies.

of the Patent Rules states that the Commissioner shall advance an application upon the request of an applicant “if the applicant files with the Commissioner a declaration indicating that the application relates to technology the commercialization of which would help to resolve or mitigate environmental impacts or to conserve the natural environment and resources”. Climate technologies, such as those previously mentioned above, are likely to fall within this category.

Patents, of course, provide the holder with the right to exclude others from the creation, use and selling of the patented invention, but, it is this right to exclude that has some researchers suggesting an outright on climate technologies. Due to the indispensable nature of climate technologies on the world, their fear is that climate technologies are far too important to be left in private hands and excluded from others. However, climate technologies require a considerable amount of investment and patents provide a level of protection that is attractive to investors. To put this situation into perspective, the predicts that several hundred billion dollars in global investment is needed in clean technologies to maintain global temperatures below the 2 °C threshold.

A number of possible solutions present themselves. First is compulsory licensing, which allows governments to license patented inventions without the consent of patent owners. It is a solution for urgent problems and is a strategy by the United States during World War I with the introduction of 1917 Trading with the Enemy Act. Whether compulsory licensing , it may encourage it by increasing competition but also discourage innovation by reducing expected returns to private-sector research and development.

Similarly, in Canada, the��has a provision (s.19) for government appropriations. Section 19 of the��Patent Act��permits federal and provincial governments to make an application to the Commissioner for the use of a patented invention. In order for an appropriation to be granted it must be in accordance with the following principles: (a)��the scope and duration of the use shall be limited to the purpose for which the use is authorized; (b)��the use authorized shall be non-exclusive; and (c)��any use shall be authorized predominantly to supply the domestic market. However, prior to authorization, the Commissioner must make an effort to obtain use of the patent on reasonable terms and within a reasonable period. Once authorized, as per s.19(4) “the authorized user shall pay to the patentee such amount as the Commissioner considers to be adequate remuneration in the circumstances, taking into account the economic value of the authorization.”

There are a number of situations where the conditions for authorization do not apply. As per s.19.1(2), the Commissioner does not have to seek authorization in “cases of national emergency or extreme urgency or where the use for which the authorization is sought is a public non-commercial use.” Some idea of what a national emergency might entail can be found in where “Public Emergency” is defined as “an emergency that is caused by a real or imminent (a) fire, flood, drought, storm, earthquake or other natural phenomenon, (b) disease in human beings, animals or plants, or (c) accident or pollution, and that results or may result in a danger to life or property, social disruption or a breakdown in the flow of essential goods, services or resources, so serious as to be a national emergency.” The previously mentioned report by the IPCC warns that all these listed hazards are high likely to occur unless global temperatures are kept below a 2 °C increase. These hazards are potentially appropriate situations where government may appropriate a patented technology.

Patent pools are another possible solution to the problem of a patent holders right to exclude. The World Intellectual Property Organization as “an agreement between two or more patent owners to license one or more of their patents to one another or to third parties.” Essentially, patents from multiple patent owners are pooled together and made available to member and non-member licensees and allocates a portion of the licensing fees it collects to each member in proportion to each patent's value. Patent pools have historically been used in the production of everything from . Chapter 7 of the enforcement guidelines on IP acknowledges that patent pools can often serve a pro‑competitive purpose by, among other things, integrating complementary technologies, avoiding costly litigation, reducing transaction costs and clearing blocking patents.

Lastly, one further option is that a patent holder may take a page out of the book of automotive company and open up their patents. In other words, Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use their technology. Tesla’s goal is to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport in order to address the carbon crisis, and by opening up their patents and eliminating an intellectual property barrier they have. In the same manner, patent holders to climate technologies may choose to open their patents in order to accelerate the development of climate technologies in order to address climate change.

Some lessons may be drawn from past, but this is largely uncharted territory. At no other time has the world been faced with such an urgent problem. As time goes on and climate change worsens, it is likely that rights to climate technologies will become a balancing act between the rights of the few (patent holders) and the rights of the many (the world).

Written by Alex Dumais. Alex is an IPilogue Editor and a JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School.

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