Clean vs Dirty: The Global Energy Shift

Clean vs Dirty – The Global Energy Shift

A data-driven exploration of the world’s changing energy landscape
Author: Khushaal Fulsunge
Date: 10 June 2025

Why Energy Mix Matters

  • Energy production is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions
  • Shifting to clean energy is essential for climate goals (e.g., net zero)
  • Countries differ vastly in:
    • Their dependence on coal, oil, and gas
    • Their progress toward renewables
  • Understanding the energy mix helps explain economic and climate dynamics

About the Dataset

  • Source: Our World in Data (OWID) — Energy Data
    📎 https://github.com/owid/energy-data
  • Time Period: 2000 to 2022
  • Variables Used:
    • Share of energy from renewables and fossil fuels
    • Annual % change in coal, oil, and gas consumption
    • Electricity share from renewables
    • GDP per capita and population

Load and Clean the Dataset

## # A tibble: 6 × 10
##    year country renewables_share_ene…¹ fossil_share_energy renewables_share_elec
##   <dbl> <chr>                    <dbl>               <dbl>                 <dbl>
## 1  2000 Algeria                  0.053                99.9                 0.197
## 2  2001 Algeria                  0.065                99.9                 0.263
## 3  2002 Algeria                  0.052                99.9                 0.217
## 4  2003 Algeria                  0.228                99.8                 0.879
## 5  2004 Algeria                  0.207                99.8                 0.8  
## 6  2005 Algeria                  0.434                99.6                 1.62 
## # ℹ abbreviated name: ¹​renewables_share_energy
## # ℹ 5 more variables: coal_cons_change_pct <dbl>, oil_cons_change_pct <dbl>,
## #   gas_cons_change_pct <dbl>, gdp_per_capita <dbl>, population <dbl>

Renewable Electricity Share by Country (2000–2022)

Top 10 Countries by Fossil Fuel Share of Energy (2022)

Top 10 Countries by Renewable Energy Share (2022)

What the Data Tells Us

  • The global shift from fossil fuels to renewables is underway — but uneven.
  • Fossil fuel consumption is still dominant, especially in energy-exporting countries.
  • Countries like Norway, Sweden, and Brazil are leading in renewable adoption.
  • Countries like Trinidad and Tobago, Saudi Arabia, and Bangladesh remain over 95% fossil-dependent.
  • Energy inequality is evident: some nations transition fast, others lag due to infrastructure, economy, or policy.

References

Ritchie, H., & Rosado, P. (2020, July). Energy Mix. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/energy-mix

owid/energy-data. (2021, July 19). GitHub. https://github.com/owid/energy-data

rstudio. (2025). GitHub - rstudio/revealjs: R Markdown Format for reveal.js Presentations. GitHub. https://github.com/rstudio/revealjs