The UK risks losing ground in the global clean energy race unless urgent steps are taken to support innovation, scale-up and consumer adoption, according to a new report from law firm Shakespeare Martineau. The report argues that while the country continues to generate strong early-stage ideas, it is failing to convert them into large-scale deployment and economic value.
Titled Unlocking Clean Energy Innovation: Investment, Impact & Intellectual Property in 2025 and Beyond, the report draws on global patent data alongside insights from two roundtable discussions with investors and innovators. It concludes that the UK is underperforming relative to international peers when measured by clean energy innovation intensity against GDP.
Patent activity in clean energy technologies peaked during the 2010s but has fallen sharply since 2020, the report finds. The decline is particularly pronounced in areas such as hydrogen, industrial energy efficiency and grid technologies, all of which are seen as central to achieving the UK’s net zero targets.
Compared with countries including Germany, Sweden and China, the UK now trails in its ability to translate research and development into industrial capacity. The report suggests this gap is not due to a lack of technical capability, but rather structural barriers related to finance, regulation and market uptake.
Andrew Whitehead, head of energy at Shakespeare Martineau, said the UK’s competitive position depends on more than scientific excellence. “Britain has the talent and ideas to lead the clean energy revolution but ideas alone won’t power our future,” he said.
“Without decisive action on finance, regulation and consumer engagement, we risk becoming a customer, not a creator, in the global clean energy economy – missing out on the economic benefits of the net zero transition,” Whitehead added.
The report calls for a coordinated national response to reverse current trends. Among its recommendations is the need for targeted finance to support capital-intensive clean energy technologies that often struggle to progress beyond pilot stages.
Regulatory reform is also highlighted as a priority, with the report arguing that existing frameworks can slow experimentation and deployment. It suggests more flexible approaches could allow emerging technologies to be tested and scaled at pace, while still maintaining safety and environmental standards.
Another proposal is the creation of a joined-up national investment hub aimed at attracting global capital into UK clean energy projects. The report suggests this could help align public and private finance, reduce fragmentation and provide clearer signals to international investors.
Consumer participation is identified as a further missing link in the UK’s clean energy transition. The report points to the role of gamified energy tariffs, smart home incentives and better use of real-time data in encouraging household engagement.
Strengthening the smart meter mandate is presented as a key step in this area. According to the report, wider access to high-quality, real-time energy data could support both innovation and behaviour change, while also enabling new business models.
Selina Hinchliffe, head of commercial services at Shakespeare Martineau, said innovation needs to extend beyond the laboratory. “Patents are just one part of the story – innovation must be more than invention,” she said.
“To lead globally, the UK must turn ideas into impact, scaling technologies, building manufacturing capacity and ensuring consumers are part of the journey,” Hinchliffe added.
While the report is critical of current performance, it also points to examples of UK-based activity that demonstrate what is possible when supportive conditions are in place. These include the £4 billion Agratas battery gigafactory under construction in Somerset, which is expected to strengthen domestic manufacturing capacity.
Other cited initiatives include E.ON’s Next Gen Home pilot scheme, which is testing new approaches to household energy use, and Statera Energy’s battery storage system in Thurrock. The report presents these projects as evidence that the UK can deliver at scale when investment, policy and market demand align.
The findings are published against a backdrop of intensifying international competition in clean energy manufacturing and deployment. Many countries are increasing state support for strategic technologies as part of wider industrial and energy security strategies.
The report suggests that without a clearer, more coordinated approach, the UK could miss opportunities to capture value across clean energy supply chains. This, it argues, would have implications not only for emissions targets but also for jobs, skills and long-term economic resilience.
Shakespeare Martineau’s analysis positions intellectual property, finance and consumer engagement as interconnected elements of a functioning clean energy ecosystem. Weakness in any one area, the report argues, can limit progress across the whole system.
The report’s authors conclude that the next phase of the UK’s clean energy transition will be defined less by invention and more by execution. They argue that timely policy and investment decisions over the next few years will shape whether the UK emerges as a leader or remains reliant on imported technologies.
