Newsletters

Here at OnlyFacts, we’re obsessed with finding the most local and granular data possible, then making it accessible. You’re probably familiar with our work on solar uptake by postcode. Now, we’re looking at EVs. Which communities are leading the EV revolution? Let’s find out.  Why It Matters Transitioning to battery-powered vehicles is no vanity project. Transport is Australia’s 3rd largest emitting sector, accounting for 22% of the country’s emissions. Road transport creates the lion's

Today, I return to one of my bugbears - Gross emissions.  (For our new subscribers, this means total emissions put into the atmosphere before any removals. Read more about them here). There's growing awareness about this issue.  Last month, Andrew Forrest said the world needs to walk away from the ‘proven fantasy’ of Net Zero emissions by 2050 and embrace ‘Real Zero’ by 2040. We already know Australia's Gross emissions have flatlined. Reading time: 3 minutes Data Note Gross / Real emissi

Let's return to rooftop solar. What factors influence our decisions to install it?  We know it depends on whether you live in metro, regional or rural areas, and factors like home ownership, apartment living and household income. Today, we’ll examine another factor: politics. Let’s dive in. Reading time: 3.5 minutes Data Note Data about rooftop solar installations is published by postcode. To find the dominant politics of the postcode, we mapped each one to a federal electorate. Then we

Last week, we looked at the making of the Land Use sausage. That is, how emissions and removals of greenhouse gases in the land sector are calculated. (Catch up here if you missed it).  The DCCEEW updates Land Use emissions data annually.   But the quarterly figures change in another way — they get retrospectively revised. Let’s take a closer look. Credit to Ketan First, the topic of Land Use revisions was inspired by Ketan Joshi, an author and communications consultant who focuses on clim

A couple of weeks ago, we looked at the quarterly Greenhouse Gas update and found Land Use emissions had remained unchanged for 10 quarters. (Catch up here if you missed it). We’re going to spend the next couple of briefings looking into that curve. Let’s get started. What is Land Use? One of the hardest things about reporting on climate is the abstruse language that permeates it.  We say ‘Land Use’ as shorthand for Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry sector, which is often abbreviated

Somewhere in the world, the Covid-19 pandemic is still at its peak. It's July 2021. Schools, transport, work and fun are all disrupted by social distancing rules and lockdowns. Where is this place that's still in the past? Australia's greenhouse gas inventory. Let me explain. Quarterly v Annual reports Yes, last week's briefing looked at Australia's emissions to June this year. But while we're grateful for small mercies, the quarterly emissions report that we covered was a macro summary of

Our data journalist, James, doesn't mince words. ‘That is a very boring chart’, he said about our visualisation of Australia's gross emissions. What do you think? Let's unpack it while reviewing Australia's quarterly greenhouse gas update, which was released a couple of weeks ago. Headline Numbers First, here's some context for that chart, above. It shows gross emissions. That means total emissions we put into the atmosphere before any removals. The chart below shows Australia's net

Last week, we looked at rooftop solar units by postcode and found patterns based on location. I.e. Where is all the rooftop solar in Australia? (TLDR: Rural and regional areas generally have more per capita). Today, we're looking at other characteristics that define those postcodes. I.e. Who has all the rooftop solar? Let's take a look. Primer The charts below are scatter charts that compare two or more variables. Each dot represents a postcode in Australia. The y-axis is the same on all c