May 8, 2013

Visualizing Clean Energy Progress

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This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

Data visualizations with the International Energy Agency's Tracking Clean Energy Progress 2013 report show what it means when they say that the world is not on track to meet 2050 sustainability goals.The eight interactive data visualizations take users through the data behind this grim message, and reveal the opportunities that are opening in the transportation sector.

In the "Renewable Power" data visualization, one can look at the historic trends in worldwide renewable power development or zoom in to see the trends for specific countries over time. And, this pictures shows what current trends will lead to (not enough generation, if one wishes to meet sustainability goals).

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The "Fuel Economy Readiness Index" visualization takes a more geographic-focus, overlaying a world map with transportation sector characteristics.The "Biofuels" visualization plots countrywide per capita biofuel consumption and % of fuel consumption. The five other visualizations paint pictures of coal and gas power, carbon dioxide capture, electric vehicles, building energy intensity, and the IEA's carbon intensity metric. And, for those who want to take it a step further, all of the data behind these visualizations are available for free online.

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