The clean energy transition runs on 50 years of patent-protected chemistry and engineering. Stanley Whittingham invented the first practical rechargeable lithium battery at Exxon in 1975 — a time when no one imagined it would one day power a billion smartphones. John Goodenough's 1981 cathode patent solved the safety problem and made the technology commercially viable. Bell Labs created the silicon solar cell in 1954 with no commercial market in sight. These patents expired long before their technologies became essential — which is exactly why the clean energy revolution could happen. The knowledge became free just when it was needed most.
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