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Tag Archives: Investment

A Billion Dollars to Invest to Create Demand for Shale Gas; Technology Including Nanotech Key

Posted by J. Steven Rutt on Posted in Cleantech

What is a billion dollars? Consider this if you are reflecting:

Because of domestic shale gas drilling, natural gas prices have been low, making gas drilling less profitable than some would like. Chesapeake Energy recently announced (per AP article attached) that it would spend a billion dollars in technologies designed to increase demand for natural gas over the next ten years. Examples of initial investments are to develop a technology that will use natural gas and plant material to make diesel and gasoline. Chesapeake’s $155M investment in Sundrop Fuels is one leading part of this story. Other themes include using unconventional technology to stimulate US oil production and building out a national supply system (e.g., truckers can drive coast-to-coast on natural gas). In a nutshell, the goal is that the natural gas supply revolution is now met also with a natural gas demand revolution.

The point  is made by industry that the US leads the world in unconventional gas/oil extraction technology. Certainly, it is hard to argue with this when one looks at the patent literature. For example, review of US patent literature on hydraulic fracturing technology reveals that most of the inventors are from the US. And most of these are from Texas! In 2011, for example, the US PTO published 197 patent applications as of July 14 which referred to “hydraulic fracturing.” Of these, 114 (over half!) feature at least one inventor from Texas. The primary non-US country appears to be Canada, but Canada provides inventors for only 16 of the 197 publications (less than 10% mention a Canadian inventor).

A nanoscale understanding of the shale gas extraction process, including the natural rock and the fluids used for extraction, will be an important element of this commercialization drive. In the July 14 Senate hearing on reauthorization of the NNI, for example, one witness spoke of this point with respect to drilling fluid. 

The hope is that (nano)technology will solve far more problems than it creates, and that the law will help in this regard, including the patent system. We will continue to monitor this.

Nanotechnology as a Gift, Senate Hearing Held Today

Posted by J. Steven Rutt on Posted in Legislation

A Senate subcommittee held a hearing today generally praising nanotech and discussing its future.  The hearing title was "National Nanotechnology Investment: Manufacturing, Commercialization, and Job Creation."  The attached link provides two plus hours of the hearing.  Good to see past nanotechnology investment maturing and becoming an increasingly positive force, despite the climate of tough budget decisions.  Past basic research strategies can be continued; now, commercialization can be expanded.  The NNI should not just be reauthorized but expanded.

 

What Gives? Tripling Explosion in 977 Nanotech Patenting and the NNI Web Page

Posted by J. Steven Rutt on Posted in Patent

The USPTO is publishing triple the number of 977 patent publications compared to only several years ago! What gives?

For example, I noticed that yesterday, May 26, 2011, the USPTO published 72 nanotech 977 patent publications. That struck me as a lot to review if you want to follow nanotechnology. The week before was 65; the week before that was 63; and the week before that was 73. Thus far in 2011, the USPTO publishes on average about 58 per week. So this week was not unusual, unless you look at the recent past.

In 2010, the USPTO published 53 patents in the 977 category per week.

2009 provided only 29 per week; and 2008 only 16; and 2007 only 22.

Hence, in essence, the 977 publication rate has tripled in the past several years.

Nanotechnology, clearly, is a central theme in innovation growth in the United States. Yet, we see dialog along the lines of, “it does not matter if it is nanotech….we just care about the result and not if nanotech was used to get the result. Or, nanotechnology is not an industry.”

Clearly, innovators and those commercializing innovation see nanotech as important, however it is packaged as an “industry” or not!

The NNI, university, and federal laboratory research continue to be central drivers for nanotech. Note also that the NNI has a new Web page format at www.nano.gov. Excellent step ahead. However, unfortunately, the new Web page is not being regularly updated. In contrast, the Department of Energy Web page prolifically informs the public of new developments.

What gives?