Do renewable energies work the same way everywhere?
This project investigates 20 years of global energy data across 200+ countries to answer that question — and find out where renewable investments actually deliver CO₂ reductions.
This is an end-to-end data analysis project built in Power BI, examining the relationship between renewable energy adoption, energy consumption, and CO₂ emissions worldwide from 2000 to 2019.
The analysis is structured as a 3-tab interactive dashboard that progressively builds an investment thesis:
| Tab | Title | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Renewable Paradox: Global Trends 2000–2020 | Macro-level global trends |
| 2 | Renewables vs Emissions | Country-level champions & failures |
| 3 | Investment Analysis | Segmentation model & target identification |
Despite widespread rhetoric around the energy transition, the global average tells a sobering story:
- CO₂ emissions increased by +48.05% between 2000 and 2019
- Renewable energy share declined by −3.19 percentage points globally
- Energy consumption per capita grew by +6.64%
Renewables are not keeping pace with rising global demand.
Among the top 10 countries by renewable energy growth, outcomes are split:
- ✅ Denmark: +26.79 pp renewables → −43.54% CO₂ (success)
- ✅ Iceland: +20.41 pp renewables → −26.46% CO₂ (success)
- ❌ Bosnia: +17.67 pp renewables → +50.93% CO₂ (failure)
- ❌ Uruguay: +22.03 pp renewables → +18.86% CO₂ (failure)
Success rate: only 57% — adding renewables is no guarantee of emission reductions.
A 2×2 segmentation model reveals why:
| Profile | Consumption | Renewables | Countries | Strategy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 – Intensive | High | High | 4 (2.3%) | Selective — large projects only |
| Q2 – Optimal | Low | High | 66 (37.5%) | Maintain — benchmark model |
| Q3 – High Potential | Low | Low | 52 (29.5%) | Priority — best ROI |
| Q4 – Avoid | High | Low | 54 (30.7%) | Avoid — structural barriers |
Only 4 countries in the world achieve high consumption + high renewables — proving this combination is extraordinarily rare.
Among Q3 countries with proven CO₂ reductions:
| Country | CO₂ Change |
|---|---|
| Jamaica | −16.60% ✅ |
| Cuba | −8.61% |
| North Macedonia | −5.25% |
Jamaica leads as the top Q3 performer, validating the thesis that low-consumption contexts allow renewable investments to directly displace fossil fuels.
- Line Chart: Total global CO₂ emissions (2000–2019) —
fact_energy_metrics.Total_CO2 - Line Chart: Average energy consumption per capita —
fact_energy_metrics.Total_Consumption - Line Chart: Global average renewable energy share —
fact_energy_metrics.Avg_Renewables_Pct - KPI Cards: CO₂ Change %, Renewables Change (pp), Consumption Change %
- Scatter Plot: Renewable share vs. Carbon Intensity per country, sized by consumption — shows clustering and outliers
- Table: Top 10 countries by renewable growth with CO₂ outcomes
- Bar Chart: CO₂ variation for top renewable performers (green = reduction, blue = increase)
- Scatter Plot: 2×2 country segmentation by avg. consumption × avg. renewable share, colored by profile
- Donut Chart: Country distribution across the 4 profiles
- Tables: Profile investment strategies + top Q3 target countries
The report uses a star schema with the following tables:
dim_year — date dimension (year)
dim_country — country dimension (name, profile classification)
Country_Profiles — profile lookup (Q1–Q4 labels, investment strategies)
fact_energy_metrics — central fact table
Key measures in fact_energy_metrics:
| Measure | Description |
|---|---|
Total_CO2 |
Total CO₂ emissions |
Total_Consumption |
Energy consumption |
Avg_Renewables_Pct |
Average renewable energy share |
CO2_Change_Pct |
% change in CO₂ over period |
Renewables_Change_Pts |
Change in renewable share (percentage points) |
Consumption_Change_Pct |
% change in consumption |
Carbon_Intensity |
CO₂ per unit of economic output |
Avg_Consumption |
Average per capita consumption |
Renewables_Growth_2000_2019 |
Net renewable growth over full period |
Country_Count_By_Profile |
Count of countries per segment |
| Tool | Usage |
|---|---|
| Power BI Desktop | Dashboard development, DAX measures, data modeling |
| Power Query (M) | Data cleaning and transformation |
| DAX | Custom KPI measures, segmentation logic, YoY calculations |
renewable-energy-analysis/
│
├── README.md ← You are here
├── dataviz_test.pbix ← Power BI report file
│
├── data/
│ ├── raw/ ← Original source datasets (CSV/Excel)
│ └── processed/ ← Cleaned data used in the model
│
├── docs/
│ └── screenshots/ ← Dashboard screenshots (PNG)
│ ├── tab1_global_trends.png
│ ├── tab2_country_analysis.png
│ └── tab3_investment_analysis.png
│
└── notes/
└── methodology.md ← Data cleaning decisions & assumptions
- Power BI Desktop (free) — Windows only
macOS/Linux users: use Power BI service via browser, or a Windows VM
- Clone or download this repository
- Open
dataviz.pbixin Power BI Desktop - The data is embedded in the model — no external connection needed
- Navigate between the 3 tabs using the NEXT buttons or the Pages panel
- Time period: 2000–2019 (pre-COVID baseline, 20 full years)
- Coverage: 200+ countries
- Segmentation: Countries classified into Q1–Q4 profiles using median splits on average per-capita energy consumption and average renewable energy share
- CO₂ metric: Absolute total emissions and % change over the full period
- Carbon Intensity: CO₂ relative to economic output (captures efficiency, not just volume)
- Top 10 renewable growers: Ranked by net percentage-point gain in renewable share from 2000 to 2019
What this analysis shows well:
- The gap between renewable investment and actual emission reductions
- Why consumption context is a better predictor of success than renewable share alone
- A replicable segmentation framework for prioritizing investment targets
Limitations to keep in mind:
- Data ends at 2019 — the 2020s energy transition (IRA, REPowerEU, etc.) is not reflected
- Country-level averages mask regional and sub-national variation
- Carbon intensity uses economic output as denominator, which can shift with GDP changes independently of energy policy
- "Renewable energy share" includes traditional biomass, which may not represent modern clean energy in all countries