One interesting thing I figured out while working on this graph is that, while the average power consumption per unit land area of the world is 0.1 W/m2, 78% of the world's population lives in countries where the average power consumption per unit land area of the world is greater than 0.1 W/m2 — much as, in a town with some crowded buses and many empty buses, the average number of passengers per bus may be small, but the vast majority of passengers find themselves on crowded buses.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKDqjziFG8_EsxpOIuVQN_nLTZpCKswXiaYLtbjk67AsJJsUgOhA9c8RRSscWjQLyfqE8hTjjb9fIlJcRxvYhx-9PYSs8EUr6EmbbCftJMJnNcaEnonKRsTO6B5WeUYA0KdZ1WKjheArOy/s320/powerDensityHistogram.png)
Please follow this "Map of the World" link to see multiple versions of the graph, and to download high-resolution originals, which everyone is welcome to use.
My "Map of the World" graphs are published this year in two journal papers, which I will blog about shortly.
David J C MacKay (2013a) Could energy-intensive industries be powered by carbon-free electricity? Phil Trans R Soc A 371: 20110560. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2011.0560 | This paper also contains detailed information about the power per unit area of wind farms in the UK and USA, and of nuclear power facilities |
David J C MacKay (2013b) Solar energy in the context of energy use, energy transportation and energy storage. Phil Trans R Soc A 371: 20110431. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2011.0431 | This paper also contains detailed information about the power per unit area of solar farms |