Our Insights

Animated data show the Climbers vs the Strugglers.

Can Crypto Mining Coexist with Development Goals?

We mapped the 8 agencies and 25 offices needed to develop and export an advanced nuclear reactor.

Entire countries use less electricity than some (pretty small) cities in the United States. Berea, Kentucky is a…

How we aggregate global data affects how we talk about it, and — more importantly — what we…

One of the most striking infographics from the wonderful Our World in Data is the treemap which asks…

What exactly is Africa’s role in climate mitigation? We already know that the entire continent accounts for just…

The mobile phone revolution is allowing countries to skip landlines, prompting many observers to assume countries might also skip building an electricity grid and jump right to distributed home energy systems (e.g., here and here). New disruptive technologies are exciting and alluring, especially in sub-Saharan markets where the unmet infrastructure needs are huge. After all, if you can charge your smartphone with a rooftop solar kit, then who needs power plants and a grid?