136 Country Report: Data Visualization
fei111
Raw data:
Source: Enerdata (2019). Global Energy Statistical Yearbook [Data set]. Enerdata. https://energydata.info/dataset/key-world-energy-statistics-enerdata
Climate change is possibly the greatest threat humanity has ever faced; despite this impending catastrophe, only a few countries are seriously committed to stopping climate change. In 2020, Xi Jinping, the President of the People’s Republic of China, had made an applaudable decision to make China “carbon neutral” by 2060 (Myers, 2020). This is significant because China is the largest CO2 emitter, generating around 30% of global emissions (Vanessa, 2021). Making China “carbon neutral” would be a big step towards mitigating climate change. It is worth noting that making China “carbon neutral” is not a rash decision to score political points but rather a well-calculated and long-prepared plan. Since China’s 11th Five Year Plan in 2006, it had begun pushing towards developing renewable energy (USC U.S.-China Institute, 2007). The decision to promote green energy was reaffirmed in China’s 12th Five Year Plan in 2010, where the Chinese government devoted more resources and set more ambitious goals to decarbonize and increase renewable energy use (Lewis, 2020). My visualization aims to showcase the trend over time of China’s renewable energy use from 1990 to 2017 and show the impact of China’s five-year plan on renewable energy use.
Data Viz Project had suggested various graphs that would help me achieve my goals such as control charts, area graphs, development and causes graphs, line graphs, etc (Data Viz Project, n.d.). I end up choosing a Development and Causes graph because it is the most descriptive. The graph combines a scaled timeline with a line graph; this allows me to present the overall trend while also pointing out important events, such as China’s Five Year Plan (Data Viz Project, 2021). Compared to other alternatives, this graph is the most visually appealing and provides the most amount of information.
Citations:
Data Viz Project. (2021, April 15). Development and causes. Data Viz Project. Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://datavizproject.com/data-type/development-causes/
Data Viz Project. (n.d.). Trend over time archives. Data Viz Project. Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://datavizproject.com/function/trend-over-time/#
Lewis, J. (2020, February 4). Energy and climate goals of China’s 12th five-Year plan. Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://www.c2es.org/document/energy-and-climate-goals-of-chinas-12th-five-year-plan/
Myers, S. L. (2020, September 23). China’s pledge to be carbon neutral by 2060: What it means. The New York Times. Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/23/world/asia/china-climate-change.html
USC U.S.-China Institute. (2007, April 1). National Development and Reform Commission, “11th Five Year Plan on Energy Development,” April 2007. US. Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://china.usc.edu/national-development-and-reform-commission-%E2%80%9C11th-five-year-plan-energy-development%E2%80%9D-april-2007
Vanessa. (2021, November 30). Which countries are the world’s biggest carbon polluters? ClimateTrade. Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://climatetrade.com/which-countries-are-the-worlds-biggest-carbon-polluters/#iLightbox[gallery891]/0