Could we state that technological innovations and industrial property are the key to a sustainable future?
It is hardly news to anyone that human beings are innovative creatures. Some may be more so than others, nevertheless we all yearn to find solutions that improve our daily lives - largely due to the positive consequences that the protection of innovations generates - and everything indicates that this restlessness may solve the problems that have been the subject of many discussions in favor of a sustainable future.
It is important to understand how the existing and necessary companionship between Industrial Property and Innovation benefits the global society and to take from this knowledge a lesson that enables the building of a more promising future for generations to come, always scrutinizing science's outcomes.
As a WIPO GREEN partner, INPI will put together a webinar under the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The major goal of this webinar is to provide a debate on the importance of protecting innovative solutions in the area of green technologies as a means of promoting the development and economic growth of modern societies, in accordance with one of the five action lines of the Portuguese Presidency "Green Europe: Promoting the EU as a leader in climate action.
Another issue on the Member States' agendas is the excessive consumption of fossil fuels, the main consequence of which is the warming of the planet through the release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Until the 1990s, the global air temperature remained relatively stable, but we now know that our impact until then was concealed by the action of the oceans, which absorbed much of the excess heat.
In this context, it is urgent to create solutions that allow us to survive using nature's eternal energies: solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal. The production of electricity through nature can be accelerated and perfected with state-of-the-art technology. That will result in an innovation that, duly protected by Industrial Property, will allow others to aspire on surpassing it, and all in all that is what enhances and motivates innovation. Ultimately, this path will enable the construction of a renewable future, subordinated to research and to the logic of commercialization.
Forests are a fundamental component in the planet's recovery and are nature's best technology to lock up carbon. However, deforestation has been one of the worst scourges of the last century, much of it due to economic interests and sectors that subsist on its devastation.
More and more innovative solutions have emerged that can dismantle the motivation of those who prosper by destroying the lungs of Planet Earth. Cork is a totally natural raw material, with unique properties that provide it an unequaled character, totally biodegradable, renewable and recyclable. It can be used to produce energy without the need to cut down trees, thus contributing not only to halt deforestation but also to reduce the use of fossil fuels.
Figures published by Corticeira Amorim show that over 60% of the industry's energy needs are covered by cork powder (biomass), a neutral energy source in terms of CO2 emissions. Cork is also used in wind turbines given its lightness and capacity for acoustic and thermal insulation
Finally, there has been much debate and reflection on the future of the organization of the world cities, making them cleaner and quieter. The concept of "Smart Cities" has occupied a large part of the lexicon of all those interested in innovation, sustainability and mobility. This concept is grounded in opportunities related not only to research and education, but also to Industrial Property, that acts as a strategy to unleash authentic cities, thus encouraging the creation of new products in the most various sectors: innovations prepared to prosper, both in the national and international market.