Fixing a misleading Infographic about wealth and energy




Hanno Böck

Misleading Infographic

I think it is a good idea to avoid wasting energy

Bitcoin

Not everyone agrees; some people think wasting energy is a great idea

Lots of social media posts with this graphic...

Misleading Infographic

How many errors can you spot?

Variant 1 Variant 2
Variant 1 Variant 2
  • Confuses Energy and Electricity
  • Confuses Income and GDP
  • Not all countries
  • Different data source, same visualization (IEA vs. EIA)

Sloppy, but fixable

Have a closer look at the Axes

Zoom in on X-Axis

Logarithmic Scales

Random data (log scale)

Random data on a log scale

Never use log scales in public communication; they are not intuitive, and most people don't understand them

Less misleading Infographic

Income/Energy, correct graphic

https://github.com/decarbonizenews/energygraph

High-income, low-energy countries

Wind turbines and houses in Denmark Denmark
Train in Switzerland Switzerland
Studie Energieintensität Schweiz
Screenshot article

https://industrydecarbonization.com/news/misleading-logarithmic-scales-and-the-disregard-for-energy-efficiency.html

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