Energy Systems Carbon Dependence: A Systematic Review of the Literature and Measurement Framework for Remote Northern Communities
| dc.contributor.advisor | Schneider, Dave | |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Poelzer, Greg | |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Zapata, Oscar | |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Noble, Bram | |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Munzur, Alaz | |
| dc.creator | Abraham, Femi | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-10-28T22:17:33Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-10-28T22:17:33Z | |
| dc.date.copyright | 2024 | |
| dc.date.created | 2024-10 | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024-10-28 | |
| dc.date.submitted | October 2024 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2024-10-28T22:17:33Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | Carbon dependence is a recurrent concept in the energy systems sustainability literature, particularly in discussions of energy transitions and their socio-economic and environmental implications. However, a standardized definition and a community-appropriate measurement framework still need to be developed. As the ambition to reduce carbon dependence across remote northern communities intensifies, the lack of a standardized understanding of the concept could result in inconsistent measurements of carbon dependency levels across communities. Consequently, this could limit the ability to deliver evidence-based resource allocation and identify communities with urgent development priorities when delivering energy transition interventions. This study improves understanding of carbon dependence and dependency in two ways: (i) presents a systematic review of the literature, analyzing how existing studies conceptualize and measure this concept within energy-economic systems, and assessing the suitability of existing measurement frameworks for remote northern communities; (ii) propose a community-appropriate measurement framework for understanding the magnitude of carbon dependence within remote northern communities using a well-being-based approach. The findings from an in-depth analysis of 43 studies reveal a spectrum of implicit conceptualizations across multiple scales of measurement and analysis, with concordant variability in results and interpretations. While the reviewed studies have presented measures for their intended use, the absence of a context-specific measurement of carbon dependency at the community level highlights the need to standardize an appropriate scale-independent definition. The measurement framework proposed in this thesis builds on established principles in multivariate calculus and economics for building carbon dependence indices by fuel types. We hope the priority for future studies will be to apply the proposed framework using real community-level data. | |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10388/16217 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.subject | Carbon dependency | |
| dc.subject | Energy systems | |
| dc.subject | Remote northern communities | |
| dc.subject | Measurement framework | |
| dc.title | Energy Systems Carbon Dependence: A Systematic Review of the Literature and Measurement Framework for Remote Northern Communities | |
| dc.type | Thesis | |
| dc.type.material | text | |
| thesis.degree.department | School of Environment and Sustainability | |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Environment and Sustainability | |
| thesis.degree.grantor | University of Saskatchewan | |
| thesis.degree.level | Masters | |
| thesis.degree.name | Master of Environment and Sustainability (M.E.S.) |