An Overview of Innovation in the Chemical Industry: Process Innovation and Product Innovation

This paper is an overview of innovation in the chemical industry based on literature review. The focus is on the current status of process innovation and product innovation. Special attention is given to basic chemicals and non-basic chemicals. The overview of innovation covers both the rate of innovation (or the quantity of innovation which includes input e.g. R&D and output e.g. licensing) and the direction of innovation (or the quality of innovation which includes objectives and impacts on the environment and market). The overview suggests that process innovation and innovation on basic chemicals are generally less dynamic than product innovation and innovation on non-basic chemicals although the environmental impacts of chemical processes and basic chemicals are very high. Further research is recommended to find out whether a more open market for chemical process technologies can stimulate the future development of process innovation.