Adequate service provision as the guide for energy transitions and international development
type: CreativeWork
description: The reliance of human societies on fossil-fuelled energy supply used for human activities has increased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to levels that cause unprecedented atmospheric warming. The emissions have been the result of a handful of countries that industrialised, changing their systems and improving the well-being of their population over time. Given the global harmful consequences of such emissions, industrialised economies have planned an energy transition to curb them. In contrast, many developing countries that need higher levels of well-being have agreed to emission-limiting international agreements, forcing them to seek alternative ways to increase well-being. GHG emissions are connected to resource consumption (i.e. energy and materials), which in turn provide the `services', either to cover needs or desires by people. The delivery of services requires multiple resource transformations, with inefficiencies at each transformation. Developing countries face the challenge to deliver services and increase well-being, while limiting emissions. This thesis refers to this idea as climate-compatible development. Researchers have explored the links between energy use, development and well-being, but have mostly overlooked the multiple transformations and losses that occur between resource extraction and service provision. Such in-depth exploration is hindered by a lack of granular data describing these resource transformations. As a result, technical and policy efforts to reduce emissions focus mainly on low-carbon energy supply options, despite the high emission reduction potential from end-uses, which are closer to services. This thesis postulates that service provision is more closely linked to development outcomes, than primary energy supply. Therefore, assessing historical service provision, will elucidate ways to deliver decent well-being levels with reduced emissions. The research is organised into three main areas. The first attempts to measure to wha…
abstract: The reliance of human societies on fossil-fuelled energy supply used for human activities has increased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to levels that cause unprecedented atmospheric warming. The emissions have been the result of a handful of countries that industrialised, changing their systems and improving the well-being of their population over time. Given the global harmful consequences of such emissions, industrialised economies have planned an energy transition to curb them. In contrast, many developing countries that need higher levels of well-being have agreed to emission-limiting international agreements, forcing them to seek alternative ways to increase well-being. GHG emissions are connected to resource consumption (i.e. energy and materials), which in turn provide the `services', either to cover needs or desires by people. The delivery of services requires multiple resource transformations, with inefficiencies at each transformation. Developing countries face the challenge to deliver services and increase well-being, while limiting emissions. This thesis refers to this idea as climate-compatible development. Researchers have explored the links between energy use, development and well-being, but have mostly overlooked the multiple transformations and losses that occur between resource extraction and service provision. Such in-depth exploration is hindered by a lack of granular data describing these resource transformations. As a result, technical and policy efforts to reduce emissions focus mainly on low-carbon energy supply options, despite the high emission reduction potential from end-uses, which are closer to services. This thesis postulates that service provision is more closely linked to development outcomes, than primary energy supply. Therefore, assessing historical service provision, will elucidate ways to deliver decent well-being levels with reduced emissions. The research is organised into three main areas. The first attempts to measure to wha…
author: Cervantes Barron, Karla
language: eng
keywords: services, service provision, international development, energy transition, resource use
license: https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/e1d2b526-28e4-4af6-b1c4-a512b93359ae/download
license: https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/
date published: 2020-12-22
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:07Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.70920