Tag Archives: energy

China at the Top of Renewable Energy Investment

china leads energy investmentIn 2012 China’s investment in renewable energy surpassed the investment by the United States for the previous year and for the same year. In fact, China’s is ahead every other nation including Germany, Japan, and Italy.

China’s investment in renewable energy exceeded $60 billion for 2012, compared to an estimated $36 billion in the United States, and $23 billion in Germany for the same year.

Source: Statista: China Leads the Way in Renewable Energy Investment

 

Global Carbon Footprint by Country

carbon footprint by countryThis original visualization by Stanford Kay shows total carbon emissions by country. Using different colors to differentiate each region, the size of the circle depicts the carbon footprint of each country.

Countries with the largest carbon footprint include China, United States, Russia, India, Japan, Germany, South Korea, Australia, UK, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Taiwan, Ukraine, France, and Spain.

 

The World’s Largest Oil Reserves by Country

strategic oil reserves worldOil reserves are the amount of oil that can be technically and economically recovered from the ground.

Nations with the world’s largest oil reserves include Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Russia, and Libya. Saudi Arabia, holds an approximate 234.5 billion barrels of oil reserves, and it has the largest market share for oil production after Russia. Saudi Arabia is followed by Venezuela, with an estimated 211.0 billion barrels of oil reserves, although its current oil production market share is only 3.2%.

By comparison, the United States has an estimated 30.9 billion barrels in oil reserves, and  8.7% market share in oil production.

Source: Spiegel Online: A World without Oil: Companies Prepare for a Fossil-Free Future

 

Internet Connectivity in the United States

As part of the PBS series America Revealed, this aerial visualization shows the patterns of internet distribution in the United States. We can see that the regions with highest levels of internet connectivity include the Northeast, and parts of the South and Midwest, followed by the Pacific West.

For additional interesting aerial visualizations, such as the distribution of the unemployed, electricity network routes, public transportation paths, U.S. imports and exports of beef patterns, the distribution of the population in towns and cities, etc., visit: The Roosevelt’s – Aerial Data Visualisation Reveals Life In The United States.

Africa’s Resource Curse or Blessing

Energy Production for Select African Countries  (1960-2010)

The discovery of resources in developing countries has usually been more of a curse than a blessing for their economies, benefiting certain groups but not most of the population. Will this be the case for some African countries where resources have been recently discovered? Read more below:

  1. Energy Production of Select African Countries [IndexMundi]
  2. From Resource Curse to Blessing – Joseph Stiglitz [Project Syndicate]
  3. Beating the Resource Curse in Africa: A Global Effort – Terra Lawson-Remer and Joshua Greenstein [Council on Foreign Relations]
  4. Can New Oil States in Africa Avoid the ‘Resource Curse?’ Gabe Joselow [Voice of America News]
  5. Africa Must Tap Into Unused Resources – Kibaki – Wambui Ndonga [AllAfrica.com]
  6. Mining could spur Africa’s industrialization, but resource-curse risks persist – Terence Creamer [Engineering News]

Interesting Links of the Day – July 12, 2012

  1. Spain Targets First Cash From Renewables With Energy Tax – Marc Roca (Bloomberg)
  2. Spain to follow Ireland’s footsteps – Fiona Maharg-Bravo and Neil Unmack (The Globe and Mail)
  3. Brent crude steady above $100 as Fed holds off stimulus – Florence Tan (Reuters)
  4. Energy Independence in an Interdependent World – Joseph S. Nye (Project Syndicate)