Biomass power generation technologies, which are now mature and competitive, can alleviate power shortages, reduce the damaging environmental effects of coal-based power generation, and provide alternative renewable energy. While understanding trends is essential for making policies and decisions, few studies to date have examined biomass power generation's technological evolutionary development path from a patent data perspective. This paper uses patent data to reveal the biomass power generation technological evolutionary trajectory. Using growth curve and citation network approaches, the evolution of the core technologies and the main trajectories over time were identified. After simulations and predictions based on the logistic growth curve, it was revealed that biomass power generation had entered technological maturity and would meet saturation in 2031. Main path analysis was introduced to trace the technological trajectory. The patent citation analysis revealed six main technology paths. Further analysis identified biomass power generation hybridization, the use of waste to generate power, and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage as potential technologies to achieve negative emissions.
Keywords: Biomass power generation; Growth curve; Main path analysis; Patent analysis; Patent citation network; Technological trajectory.
© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.