In terms of scale is generally used it to describe a comparison of something with regard to its size or magnitude. Perhaps you're not familiar with this usage?
They are of a comparable measurement - total wattage. You can divide this by the respective population sizes and you'll get another type of data. You can also divide it by the amount of people living in urban areas, by the total amount of land, by the amount of land utilized for electricity generation, by the amount of time elapsed since the country was industrialized, by the amount of time elapsed since the country started producing renewable energy, or numerous other factors, and you'll get a different type of data every time. "In terms of scale" does not inherently imply that population size is the divisor
No you're 100% right it's not inherently about population, but that's a convenient and common measure.
Again, you're talking about total output here. Where's the scale? "Country" is not a uniform data point. So at best this is categorization.
An example:
There are 3 employees in one group, and they produce 9 widgets in a day.
In another group, there are 10 people, and they produce 20 widgets.
Fantastic. Group 2 makes more widgets right?!
IN TERMS OF SCALE, group 1's employees make 3 widgets per person.
Group 2's makes 2 or person.
That's why talking about total output power is kind of meaningless.
No, that's the point. In terms of scale, they are literally behind on this one factor.
** Edit to add: you have very valid points on the Canadians over-consuming
In terms of scale China absolutely dwarfs the entire west. There's no comparison here.
Perhaps I'm misunderstanding what you mean by "in terms of scale". Typically, that's what we use "per capita" for, no?
I mean absolute scale in terms of total power production and size of deployment.
Ah, ok. But big heads-up, that's not what "in terms of scale" means. You 're talking about total output.
In terms of scale is generally used it to describe a comparison of something with regard to its size or magnitude. Perhaps you're not familiar with this usage?
You're partly right. It's used to compare things of different sizes, by converting them into a comparable measurement (i.e. scaling them)
They are of a comparable measurement - total wattage. You can divide this by the respective population sizes and you'll get another type of data. You can also divide it by the amount of people living in urban areas, by the total amount of land, by the amount of land utilized for electricity generation, by the amount of time elapsed since the country was industrialized, by the amount of time elapsed since the country started producing renewable energy, or numerous other factors, and you'll get a different type of data every time. "In terms of scale" does not inherently imply that population size is the divisor
No you're 100% right it's not inherently about population, but that's a convenient and common measure.
Again, you're talking about total output here. Where's the scale? "Country" is not a uniform data point. So at best this is categorization.
An example:
There are 3 employees in one group, and they produce 9 widgets in a day. In another group, there are 10 people, and they produce 20 widgets. Fantastic. Group 2 makes more widgets right?!
IN TERMS OF SCALE, group 1's employees make 3 widgets per person. Group 2's makes 2 or person.
That's why talking about total output power is kind of meaningless.