assignment3_energy_story.Rmd
2026-06-10
Introduction
Australia is often described as a country with strong renewable energy potential. However, the electricity transition is more complex than simply saying renewables are increasing. These five charts show how Australia’s electricity mix has changed, which sources are growing, and how Australia compares with other countries.
Chart 1: Australia’s electricity mix is changing
This chart shows how Australia’s electricity generation has changed
## # A tibble: 6 × 3
## year source generation_twh
## <dbl> <chr> <dbl>
## 1 2000 Coal 180.
## 2 2000 Gas 16.8
## 3 2000 Oil 2.27
## 4 2000 Hydro 16.5
## 5 2000 Solar 0.05
## 6 2000 Wind 0.13## # A tibble: 23,377 × 130
## country year iso_code population gdp biofuel_cons_change_pct
## <chr> <dbl> <chr> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl>
## 1 ASEAN (Ember) 2000 <NA> NA NA NA
## 2 ASEAN (Ember) 2001 <NA> NA NA NA
## 3 ASEAN (Ember) 2002 <NA> NA NA NA
## 4 ASEAN (Ember) 2003 <NA> NA NA NA
## 5 ASEAN (Ember) 2004 <NA> NA NA NA
## 6 ASEAN (Ember) 2005 <NA> NA NA NA
## 7 ASEAN (Ember) 2006 <NA> NA NA NA
## 8 ASEAN (Ember) 2007 <NA> NA NA NA
## 9 ASEAN (Ember) 2008 <NA> NA NA NA
## 10 ASEAN (Ember) 2009 <NA> NA NA NA
## # ℹ 23,367 more rows
## # ℹ 124 more variables: biofuel_cons_change_twh <dbl>,
## # biofuel_cons_per_capita <dbl>, biofuel_consumption <dbl>,
## # biofuel_elec_per_capita <dbl>, biofuel_electricity <dbl>,
## # biofuel_share_elec <dbl>, biofuel_share_energy <dbl>,
## # carbon_intensity_elec <dbl>, coal_cons_change_pct <dbl>,
## # coal_cons_change_twh <dbl>, coal_cons_per_capita <dbl>, …## # A tibble: 26 × 130
## country year iso_code population gdp biofuel_cons_change_pct
## <chr> <dbl> <chr> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl>
## 1 Australia 2000 AUS 19132472 692059312020 NA
## 2 Australia 2001 AUS 19365438 713890072308 NA
## 3 Australia 2002 AUS 19595356 747065694937 NA
## 4 Australia 2003 AUS 19819449 774450991263 NA
## 5 Australia 2004 AUS 20046679 809792445090 NA
## 6 Australia 2005 AUS 20294490 840092380696 NA
## 7 Australia 2006 AUS 20590566 866678665246 224.
## 8 Australia 2007 AUS 20954545 911250727265 27.2
## 9 Australia 2008 AUS 21370595 937889628737 32.4
## 10 Australia 2009 AUS 21783014 963129933389 38.6
## # ℹ 16 more rows
## # ℹ 124 more variables: biofuel_cons_change_twh <dbl>,
## # biofuel_cons_per_capita <dbl>, biofuel_consumption <dbl>,
## # biofuel_elec_per_capita <dbl>, biofuel_electricity <dbl>,
## # biofuel_share_elec <dbl>, biofuel_share_energy <dbl>,
## # carbon_intensity_elec <dbl>, coal_cons_change_pct <dbl>,
## # coal_cons_change_twh <dbl>, coal_cons_per_capita <dbl>, …## # A tibble: 208 × 3
## year source generation_twh
## <dbl> <chr> <dbl>
## 1 2000 Coal 180.
## 2 2000 Gas 16.8
## 3 2000 Oil 2.27
## 4 2000 Hydro 16.5
## 5 2000 Solar 0.05
## 6 2000 Wind 0.13
## 7 2000 Biofuel 0.89
## 8 2000 Other renewables 0.89
## 9 2001 Coal 180.
## 10 2001 Gas 24.5
## # ℹ 198 more rowsChart 3: Electricity sources changed between 2010 and the latest year
This chart compares electricity source shares between 2010 and the latest available year. It shows which sources increased and which sources decreased. Solar and wind have become more visible, while coal’s share has reduced compared with earlier years
## # A tibble: 10 × 3
## year source share
## <dbl> <chr> <dbl>
## 1 2010 Coal 70.1
## 2 2010 Gas 18.6
## 3 2010 Hydro 5.48
## 4 2010 Solar 0.39
## 5 2010 Wind 1.99
## 6 2025 Coal 42.7
## 7 2025 Gas 16.4
## 8 2025 Hydro 4.27
## 9 2025 Solar 19.6
## 10 2025 Wind 13.7## # A tibble: 10 × 3
## year source share
## <dbl> <chr> <dbl>
## 1 2010 Coal 70.1
## 2 2010 Gas 18.6
## 3 2010 Hydro 5.48
## 4 2010 Solar 0.39
## 5 2010 Wind 1.99
## 6 2025 Coal 42.7
## 7 2025 Gas 16.4
## 8 2025 Hydro 4.27
## 9 2025 Solar 19.6
## 10 2025 Wind 13.7Chart 4: Australia compared with other countries
This chart compares Australia with selected countries using renewable electricity share, CO2 emissions per person, and electricity generation. It helps show whether Australia’s energy transition is fast or slow compared with similar countries.
Chart 5: What powers Australia now?
This chart shows the latest electricity generation by source. It gives a clear current picture of which energy sources produce the most electricity in Australia.
## # A tibble: 8 × 5
## year source generation_twh total_generation share
## <dbl> <fct> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl>
## 1 2025 Coal 122. 289. 0.423
## 2 2025 Solar 56.1 289. 0.194
## 3 2025 Gas 47.0 289. 0.163
## 4 2025 Wind 39.2 289. 0.136
## 5 2025 Hydro 12.2 289. 0.0422
## 6 2025 Oil 6.36 289. 0.0220
## 7 2025 Biofuel 3.04 289. 0.0105
## 8 2025 Other renewables 3.04 289. 0.0105