For 75 years, the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) has been driven by a clear purpose: to provide practical, pioneering solutions to the world’s energy and environmental challenges. That commitment has many forms, from developing new analytical techniques and methodologies to open publications, field demonstrations, and full-scale commercialization. But one of the most enduring expressions of innovation at the EERC is our history of patents.
The earliest known EERC patents date back to at least 1966, with filing dates reaching as far back as 1963, when President John F. Kennedy was still in office. These early inventions, some focused on extracting more value from lignite or improving combustion systems, show that the culture of innovation at the EERC isn’t new; it’s foundational.
“Since the beginning, we were established to advance new ideas and new technologies,” said EERC Chief Operating Officer Tom Erickson, who oversees the organization’s intellectual property. “Patents have always been one of the ways to protect and support that innovation.”
The Purpose Behind Our Patents
According to Erickson, the EERC typically pursues patents for three primary reasons.
First, patents help protect the EERC’s ability to conduct research under today’s first-to-file system, ensuring our teams can continue advancing their work. Second, they establish value when a technology shows commercial promise, giving partners confidence to invest. And third, in some cases, intellectual property protection becomes the catalyst that moves a technology from concept to real-world use.
There is also an important people-centered reason. “We want to protect the competitive advantage of the great minds at the EERC,” Erickson said. “Our researchers work hard on these ideas, and when it makes sense, we want to advance them however we can.”
Growing a Culture of Innovation
Patents were relatively uncommon at the EERC until the creation of the original EERC Foundation in 1992. The foundation provided a structure to strategically pursue more patents because of its ability to use revenue to cover patent costs and to hold equity in licensing agreements. Shifts in funding structures that supported early-stage research also increased EERC patent applications. Programs funded through directed federal funding and, more recently, the State Energy Research Center helped drive invention disclosures and new ideas.
“When we look at invention disclosures over time, they rise and fall with the type of funding available,” Erickson said. “That doesn’t mean the EERC wasn’t doing great work during those dips. It means our focus was more on applied research and less on early-stage ideas.”
Throughout those shifts, one constant remained: a focus on solving problems first. Commercial potential followed, but it was never the primary driver.
When Patents Make an Impact
One of the most significant examples of EERC patent success is its mercury control portfolio. Spanning roughly 45 patents and supported by nearly $100 million in research, this work helped advance emissions-control technologies to ultimately reach the commercial marketplace. Internationally, EERC patents have been filed in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, and across Europe.
Erickson notes that financial return is not the norm. “Less than 5% of patents ever make a dime. Less than 2% ever pay for the cost of patenting itself,” he said. “But even when they don’t, they can provide a competitive advantage and open doors to new research opportunities.”
Financial return is only one measure of value. Patents do something critical for industry partners: they de-risk innovation. They can signal stability, provide protection, and help companies feel confident that if they invest in a technology, they’ll have a competitive position in the marketplace.
Even patents that never reach commercialization can provide a competitive advantage, helping the EERC pursue research opportunities, attract partners, and advance solutions that benefit industry and communities.
Patents in Action Today
Today, EERC patents support work in areas such as flare reduction, graphene production, critical minerals recovery, renewable fuels, infrastructure detection, and carbon capture. While the technologies have evolved, the underlying philosophy has not.
“All of our patents are grounded in application,” Erickson said. “They’re solutions to problems. We don’t do blue-sky research without a path forward.”
That practicality shapes the entire patenting process, from the development of the new concept, to assessing the idea for protectability and filing the patent application. Most patents take 3–5 years to be approved and typically remain in effect for 17–20 years.
Innovation Beyond Patents
Erickson emphasized that patents represent only a portion of the EERC’s impact.
“Most things we do aren’t patented, for a variety of reasons,” he said. “And many of those still lead to efficient and more economic use of North Dakota’s resources.”
Patents are one tool among many, and when they align with mission, opportunity, and impact, they are a powerful one.
As the EERC looks to the future, Erickson sees innovation in the minds of EERC researchers as the most exciting constant. “It takes a certain mindset to innovate, and our people have it,” he said. “And one innovation leads to another, and another.”
Innovation has defined the EERC. With every new concept, disclosure, and invention, we continue a legacy built on solving the world’s toughest energy and environmental challenges, and that is our mission in action.