Start-ups in Italy continue to grow exponentially: today those registered are 7.045, more than triple compared to just two years ago. Of these, 1.045 (15,4%) are active in the energy sector. In the last four years, the number of start-ups has increased with an average annual rate of 142% for the overall sample and 138% for energy start-ups alone. However, if on the one hand Italy stands out for the growing development of innovative companies, on the other it confirms its position as being at the rear in the electricity and energy sector as regards the production of patents, despite the resources destined to encourage electricity generation from renewable sources, in particular photovoltaics.
This is what emerges from the Annual report on energy innovation by the Institute for Competitiveness, I-Com, chaired by Stefano da Empoli, presented on Wednesday at the conference “A strategy for energy innovation. From research laboratories to Italian homes”, which was held in Rome. The Report, this year in its ninth edition, is developed within the Innov-E Observatory, directed by Antonio Sileo and supported by the API Group, Assogasmetano, Acquirente Unico, Axpo, CESI, CNH Industrial, e2i Energie Speciali, Enel, E.ON, Terna.
According to the I-Com study, only energy start-ups active on the national territory can be associated with a contribution to the national GDP estimated at up to 244 million euros, equal to about 17% of the total value of Made in Italy start-ups. “The northern regions absorb most of the total economic value generated by energy start-ups (about 70%), with the remainder divided between the central and southern regions. Energy start-ups in the north tend to produce significantly more (873 euros per start-up) than start-ups operating in other sectors (767 euros). While the innovative energy companies active in central and southern Italy stop on average at just over 550 euros", declared Stefano da Empoli, president of I-Com.
"However, it is precisely two regions of the South that stand out for their propensity for patenting: in Sardinia and Molise, just under half of the number of energy startups have filed for a patent (or registered software). Unlike Lombardy where, despite the absolute values, less than a third of them patent (32%)”, clarified Antonio Sileo, director of the Innov-E Observatory of I-Com. “This confirms the importance that this type of entrepreneurship has in the weaker regional economies, where it can represent a driving force for the growth of the sector”.
On the patent front, I-Com notes that the number decreases for the first time since 2008 of patents iin the energy field (-0,4% in 2015 compared to 2014). The largest contribution to the number of patents requested is from Japan, where in 2015 a third of all patents in the energy field were applied for (33%). China follows, which saw the number of requests increase from a few hundred in 2005 to over 16.000 in 2015 (equal to 20% overall). While USA down (from 18% in 2015 to 14% in 2015) and South Korea (from 14% in 2005 to 11% in 2015). Stay the weight of Italy is very marginal, equal to 0,7 of the total (620 patents requested in 2015, a slight increase compared to the previous year when they stopped at 592). Less than half in percentage terms compared to the share that our country has on the total number of patents (1,5% in 2015)
Lombardy is the region that produces the highest number of patent applications in the electricity sector (23; 2015 data). Followed by Piedmont and Lazio with 11 and 8 requests, then Emilia Romagna and Veneto with 7 and 6. While in the South Campania stands out with 3 requests (the same as in 2014 and equal to those of Tuscany). As regards technologies, Piedmont and Lazio concentrate their patent activity in a single sector, respectively wind and photovoltaic; Lombardy, on the other hand, ranges from photovoltaics to energy storage, up to technologies for clean coal and the capture and sequestration of CO2. The patenting activity of Emilia Romagna is mainly aimed at the thermodynamic solar and photovoltaic sector, such as the Veneto, which supports storage. Lastly, Tuscany and Campania have focused more on solar thermodynamics.
From the analysis of the Institute for Competitiveness on the patents presented regarding sustainable mobility, it emerges that, with over 6.000 patents, it is energy storage is the technology to which most of the attention is paid. In particular, the major innovative country in this area is Japan, from which comes 37% of the total patent applications presented by the 10 countries examined. On the podium – in third place, after the United States – we find Germany (with about 1.200 patents), particularly active in sustainable mobility, as well as in energy storage.
It's a different matter if you move from the laboratories to the street. Where Italy, thanks also to the historic propensity of Italians to purchase smaller and more powerful cars and the good penetration of alternative fuels, scores good results and decisively beats Germany, where cars on average are sold larger and heavier and therefore more polluting. “Let her hope well then rapid growth of pedal assisted bicycles, destined at least in Italy to spread much faster than that of electric cars” added Antonio Sileo. “Of course, the race for sustainability does not only concern means of transport, for example, the margins for improvement in our country, which is very far behind today, are really wide in areas such as teleworking, however, in order to be effective, it needs to be carried out in buildings and with efficient equipment”.
Lastly, with regard to heavy vehicles, it should be notedincreased attention around natural gas in liquefied form (LNG) for which truck sales and entrepreneurial initiatives regarding the refueling network are multiplying with a truly unusual speed for our country.
