11.2.1 Cross-sectoral technological options
Cross-sectoral mitigation technologies can be broken down into three categories in which the implementation of the technology:
1. occurs in parallel in more than one sector;
2. could involve interaction between sectors, or
3. could create competition among sectors for scarce resources.
Some of the technologies implemented in parallel have been discussed earlier in this report. Efficient electric motor-driven systems are used in the industrial sector (Section 7.3.2) and are also a part of many of the technologies for the buildings sector, e.g. efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems (Section 6.4.5). Solar PV can be used in the energy sector for centralized electricity generation (Section 18.104.22.168) and in the buildings sector for distributed electricity generation (Section 6.4.7). Any improvement in these technologies in one sector will benefit the other sectors.
On a broad scale, information technology (IT) is imple-mented in parallel across sectors as a component of many end-use technologies, but the cumulative impact of its use has not been analyzed. For example, IT is the basis for integrating the control of various building systems, and has the potential to reduce building energy consumption (Section 6.4.6). IT is also the key to the performance of hybrids and other advanced vehicle technologies (Section 22.214.171.124). Smart end-use devices (household appliances, etc) could use IT to program their operation at times when electricity demand is low. This could reduce peak demand for electricity, resulting in a shift to base load generation, which is usually more efficient (Hirst, 2006). The impact of such a switch on CO2 emissions is unknown, because it is easy to construct cases where shifts from peak load to base load would increase CO2 emissions (e.g., natural-gas-fired peak load, but coal-fired base load). General improvements in IT, e.g. cheaper computer chips, will benefit all sectors, but applications have to be tailored to the specific end-use. Of course, the net impact of IT on greenhouse gas emissions could result either in net reductions or gains, depending for example on whether or not efficiency gains are offset by increases in production.
An example of a group of technologies that could involve interaction between sectors is gasification/hydrogen/carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technology (IPCC, 2005 and Chapter 4.3.6). While these technologies can be discussed separately, they are interrelated and being applied as a group enhances their CO2-emission mitigation potential. For example, CCS can be applied as a post-combustion technology, in which case it will increase the amount of resource needed to generate a unit of heat or electricity. Using a pre-combustion approach, i.e. gasifying fossil fuels to produce hydrogen that can be used in fuel cells or directly in combustion engines, may improve overall energy efficiency. However, unless CCS is used to mitigate the CO2 by-product from this process, the use of that hydrogen will offer only modest benefits. (See Section 126.96.36.199 for a comparison of fuel cell and hybrid vehicles.) Adding CCS would make hydrogen an energy carrier, providing a low CO2 emission approach for transportation, buildings, or industrial applications. Implementation of fuel cells in stationary applications could provide valuable learning for vehicle application; in addition, fuel cell vehicles could provide electric power to homes and buildings (Romeri, 2004).
In the longer term, hydrogen could be manufactured by gasifying biomass – an approach which has the potential to achieve negative CO2 emissions (IPCC, 2005) – or through electrolysis using carbon-free sources of electricity, a zero CO2 option. In the even longer term, it may be possible to produce hydrogen by other processes, e.g. biologically, using genetically-modified organisms (GCEP, 2005). However, none of these longer-term technologies are likely to have a significant impact before 2030, the time frame for this analysis.
Biomass is an example of a cross-sectoral technology which may compete for resources. Any assessment of the use of biomass, e.g., as a source of transportation fuels, must consider competing demands from other sectors for the creation and utilization of biomass resources. Technical breakthroughs could allow biomass to make a larger future contribution to world energy needs. Such breakthroughs could also stimulate the investments required to improve biomass productivity for fuel, food and fibre. See Chapter 4 and Section 11.3.
Another example of resource competition involves natural gas. Natural gas availability could limit the application of some short- to medium-term mitigation technology. Switching to lower carbon fuels, e.g. from coal to natural gas for electricity generation, or from gasoline or diesel to natural gas for vehicles, is a commonly cited short-term option. Because of its higher hydrogen content, natural gas is also the preferred fossil fuel for hydrogen manufacture. Discussion of these options in one sector rarely takes natural gas demand from other sectors into account.
In conclusion, there are several important interactions between technologies across sectors that are seldom taken into account. This is an area of energy system modelling that requires further investigation.