Power sector decarbonisation depends on data transparency

This report by Ember evaluates power sector data transparency across 39 Asian economies, finding that limited data availability hinders the speed of decarbonisation in a region that accounts for 80% of global coal consumption.

• Data transparency in Asia is generally poor, with 24 out of 39 evaluated economies scoring as insufficient or poor. This lack of transparency obscures whether the electricity needs of 684 million people are being met by fossil fuels or clean energy.
• While higher income economies typically have better data transparency, some lower-middle income nations, specifically India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, are outperforming certain upper middle income economies.
• Ideal power sector data should be free, machine-readable, provided at hourly or shorter intervals, and include granular fuel and geographical information. Australia, New Zealand, and India are cited as examples of good practice.
• A case study on India's collaboration with the Vasudha Foundation highlights that improving transparency requires the standardisation of nomenclatures, methodology, granularity, data formats, and metrics.
• The report provides nine recommendations for improving data transparency, including the removal of access restrictions, the use of central locations for machine-readable data, the digitisation of archives as bulk data, and the use of unique identifiers.

APA

Ember (2024). Power sector decarbonisation depends on data transparency. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/conclusion-and-further-recommendations/

Chicago

Ember. Power sector decarbonisation depends on data transparency. 2024. https://ember-energy.org/chapter/conclusion-and-further-recommendations/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Ember |title=Power sector decarbonisation depends on data transparency |date=1 October 2024 |url=https://ember-energy.org/chapter/conclusion-and-further-recommendations/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ember2024power, author = {{Ember}}, title = {{Power sector decarbonisation depends on data transparency}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2024}, month = oct, url = {https://ember-energy.org/chapter/conclusion-and-further-recommendations/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }