Everyone Can Learn Python Scholarship
SOLUTIONS - Which cars are cleaner? Exploring Canadian vehicle CO₂ emissions
In this analysis, I use seven years of Canadian vehicle data to answer:
- Which vehicles and fuel types tend to emit less CO₂?
- How engine size and fuel consumption relate to emissions.
- Practical recommendations for policy and consumers.
import pandas as pd
import numpy as np
# Load the data
cars = pd.read_csv('data/co2_emissions_canada.csv')
# Preview the dataframe
cars.head()
cars.info()
cars.describe()
cars.isna().sum()The dataset contains 9 rows of vehicles, and the key numeric variables (engine size, fuel consumption, CO₂ emissions) have no missing values. This allows us to calculate averages and correlations reliably.
Question 1 – Median engine size
median_engine_size = cars['Engine Size(L)'].median()
median_engine_size**Median engine size
The median engine size in the dataset is 3.4 liters.
This means that half of the vehicles have engines of 3.4 L or smaller, and half have engines larger than that. This gives a sense of what a “typical” engine size looks like in Canada over these years.**
Question 2 – Average fuel consumption by fuel type
We want the average combined fuel consumption for fuel types:
Regular gasoline (X)
Premium gasoline (Z)
Ethanol (E)
Diesel (D)
fuel_consumption_by_type = (
cars
.groupby('Fuel Type')['Fuel Consumption Comb (L/100 km)']
.mean()
.round(2)
)
fuel_consumption_by_type #or printing just the four types of fuel consumption
fuel_types_of_interest = ['X', 'Z', 'E', 'D', 'N']
fuel_consumption_by_type.loc[fuel_types_of_interest]Fuel consumption by fuel type
Average combined fuel consumption (L/100 km):
- Regular gasoline (X): 10.08 L/100 km
- Premium gasoline (Z): 11.42 L/100 km
- Ethanol (E): 16.86 L/100 km
- Diesel (D): 8.84 L/100 km
Diesel typically shows lower fuel consumption per 100 km compared to gasoline, which often translates into lower CO₂ emissions per km, although diesel fuel itself can have other environmental trade-offs.
fuel_consumption_by_type.loc[fuel_types_of_interest].plot(kind='bar')Question 3 – Correlation between fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions
We want the correlation coefficient between:
Fuel Consumption Comb (L/100 km)
CO2 Emissions(g/km)