Unveiling the trajectories of green energy technologies: the case of electrolysis

This paper aims to increase our understanding of the evolutionary dynamics that feature in the development of green energy technologies. Extant research has provided extensive evidence that these technologies tend to be more novel and complex than their non-green counterparts. However, our understanding of the origins and development of green energy technologies remains limited, also considering that these are also based on non-green technologies. Therefore, we examine the development trajectories of electrolysis technologies, a group of technologies that is expected to play a key role in the greening of the energy sector. We rely on a sample of 43,832 electrolysis-related Patent Families from 1987 to 2021 that we distinguish between green and non-green. We then use citation data and Main Path Analysis to delineate the major trajectories of development and adopt the Technology Life Cycle model to identify milestones in this development. Our analysis revealed that, in the different phases of the Technology Life Cycle model, four groups of inventions feature in the main development path of electrolysis technologies. We also found that fundamental contributions to the development path of electrolysis technologies are represented by both green and non-green inventions.