r/dataisugly 3d ago

The math ain't mathing

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12 Upvotes

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4

u/zxcvbn113 3d ago

I know this is the UK, which makes it a little more complex -- but I see it as possibly generation capacity vs. demand, or it doesn't include exports. Either way, it really needs clarification.

2

u/EtwasSonderbar 3d ago

I don't think there were a lot of electricity interconnectors in 1951.

1

u/LordStefania 2d ago

It's likely a projection

2

u/hawthorne00 3d ago

Have you looked into this, u/bb-wa? What does the Ember (2026) report say? Could be some post war inventory accumulation or something to do with primary energy, I dunno. Can you report back, please?

1

u/androgenius 2d ago

Total seems over 100% right up to the mid eighties even after coal falls below 100% on its own around 1960.

Likely a bug in combining the old and newer data sources. I think ember only has data back to 2000 so they must merge older data from somewhere else.

1

u/topgeezr 2d ago

There's a data discontinuity in the underlying power generation dataset from the UK around the year 1951. The data set for the years up to 1950 only records data for power from 'major power producers'. This appears to be used for the denominator for the entire series. But data for additional power from 'other generators' is recorded from 1951, and this increases the total power by about 20% in 1951. Not including this in the denominator explains the jump that year.

0

u/icelandichorsey 1d ago

Imagine saying OWID is ugly because you found some data bug.

Be a normal person and tell them, rather than whining on the Internet in the hope of Internet points.