Editing IPCC:AR6/WGIII/Chapter-6 (section)

=== Box 6.10 | Regional Integration of Energy Systems ===

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Energy systems are linked across countries in many ways: countries transport crude oil across the ocean in supertankers, pipelines carry oil and natural gas across country boundaries, electric power lines cross country boundaries, and countries trade industrial commodities that carry embodied energy or that are essential inputs to mitigation technologies. Future systems will generate electricity using different mixes of technologies, produce and transport different carriers (e.g., hydrogen or biofuels), and use far less fossil fuel, among other major changes. Important examples include electricity, hydrogen, and biomass.

'''Electricity system integration.''' Net-zero energy systems will rely more heavily on electricity generated from low-emissions technologies. Given the significant variations in the location of low-carbon electricity resources and the temporal variability of some renewable electricity sources, notably solar and wind power, regional electricity grids could reduce overall costs of net-zero energy systems ( [[#6.4.5|Section 6.4.5]] ). Furthermore, electricity transmission interconnections could significantly reduce local energy balancing costs and investment in peaking plants needed to meet security of supply requirements, and it could increase system resilience, especially in the case of extreme events such as heat waves or cold spells (Fasihi and Bogdanov 2016). Important challenges to regional electricity integration include geopolitical concerns from cross-border trade and societal and technological challenges associated with building new transmission lines.

'''Hydrogen trade.''' Hydrogen may play an important role in future net-zero energy systems, particularly in applications where electricity is not economically advantageous (Box 6.9). Hydrogen can be used to decarbonise regions in which it is produced, and it can also be transported long distances to facilitate decarbonisation of sectors distant from sources of low-cost supply. Methods of long-distance, high-volume hydrogen transport could include liquid storage, chemical carriers, and gaseous delivery via pipelines ( [[#6.4.5|Section 6.4.5]] ). In net-zero systems with substantial wind and solar power generation, hydrogen can be generated through electrolysis and then shipped to other locations. Important challenges to hydrogen trade include cost-effective low-carbon production, cost of delivery infrastructure, storage, and end-use technology costs and safety.

'''Trade in biomass.''' Biomass may also play an important role in net-zero energy systems ( [[#6.6.4|Section 6.6.4]] , Chapter 3). Large-scale bioenergy production and consumption is likely to trigger global biomass trade. Global bioenergy trade volumes presently exceed 1 EJ yr –1 , of which 60% is directly traded for energy purposes ( [[#Proskurina--2019a|Proskurina et al. 2019a]] ). Established trade mechanisms include wood pellet transport, ethanol, and biodiesel ( [[#Proskurina--2019b|Proskurina et al. 2019b]] ). In a net-zero global energy system, bioenergy trade could be greater than current trade of coal or natural gas, but less than that of petroleum ( [[#Sharmina--2017|Sharmina et al. 2017]] ; Mandley et al. 2020). Some studies indicate

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that Latin America and Africa could become key exporting regions, with the EU, the USA, and East Asia emerging as key importers ( [[#Alsaleh--2018|Alsaleh and Abdul-Rahim 2018]] ; [[#Rentizelas--2019|Rentizelas et al. 2019]] ). Studies have found that net bioenergy exports could be as high as 10% of GDP for some Latin American countries, while other regions like the EU may be faced with burgeoning import reliance ( [[#Daioglou--2020b|Daioglou et al. 2020b]] ; [[#Mahlknecht--2020|Mahlknecht et al. 2020]] ). In addition to challenges associated with bioenergy production ( [[#6.4|Section 6.4]] and Chapter 7), important challenges to biomass trade include differences in sustainability criteria and land/biomass definitions in different jurisdictions, and difficulties in establishing consistent monitoring and auditing systems ( [[#Lamers--2016|Lamers et al. 2016]] ).

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