THE CLEAN ENERGY REVOLUTION
OPPORTUNITIES FOR CLEAN ENERGY IN NIGERIA
Clean energy is a powerful engine for economic and social development, and no country has managed to develop much beyond a subsistence economy without ensuring at least minimum access to energy services for a larger section of its population.
Clean energy describes an effective energy source that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Clean energy is renewable and causes no long term damage to the environment.
The estimated amount of renewable energy resources (such as hydropower, wind power, biogas and solar energy) in Nigeria is enormous and abundantly available.
Consequently, the energy industry in Nigeria faces numerous challenges ranging from political, cultural and socio-economic problems etc., which hamper the full development and utilization of these resources for poverty alleviation and sustainable development.
According to Bala et al (2000), Nigeria is endowed with an annual Average daily sunshine of 6.25 hours ranging between about 3.5 hours at the coastal areas and 9.0 hours at the far northern boundary. According to him, Nigeria receives about 4.851x1012 kWh of energy per day from the Sun.
Nigeria has been able to utilize some fraction of the numerous clean energy sources the country is bestowed with for example the Northern part is home to a high intensity of sunshine and thus, this has led to a high level of utilization of solar energy for lightning in homes, offices and schools.
Hydro-power such as: Kainji hydro-electricity, Shiroro hydro-power, and Jebba hydro-power station are also present in Niger State (Northern Nigeria) whose slogan is “The power state”.
Although, construction costs of hydropower are high, the zero fuel cost and low maintenance cost make hydro-generation of any size generally a competitive investment in the mix generation of an electric power system (Cassedy and Meier 1988)
The biomass/biogas resources that accrue to Nigeria are obtained from forage grasses, animal waste as well as domestic, municipal and industrial waste. This component of biogas is found in all parts of Nigeria as agricultural waste is well distributed across regions and states of Nigeria. Although, biogas is still in an experimental stage in Nigeria.
Akinbami et al (2001)’s assessment indicated that in Nigeria, identified feedstock substrate for an economically feasible biogas programme includes water lettuce, water hyacinth, dung, cassava leave, urban refuse, solid (including industrial) waste, agricultural residues and sewages. With increasing urbanization and industrialization, the annual Municipal solid waste (MSW) generated will continue to increase. Thus, leading to more energy potential via biogas if efficiently and effectively utilized across regions and states of Nigeria.
NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF FOSSIL FUEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Fossil fuel combustion (coal, diesel fuel, gasoline, oil, and natural gas) for electricity production, heating, transportation, and industry is the one of the main sources of air pollution.
Human sources of emissions have upset the natural balance by adding extra carbon monoxide to the atmosphere without removing any.
The World Health Organization reports that air pollution is the number one environmental health risk.
The emissions from the burning of fossil fuels include directly emitted fine particulate matter (PM), black carbon, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), mercury, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and carbon monoxide (CO), all of which have been associated with multiple health impacts.
The direct effects of climate change include increased illness, injury, and deaths from heat stress, floods, drought, and increased frequency of intense storms. The indirect effects are malnutrition and under-nutrition, the spread of infectious disease vectors, food insecurity, illness due to increased air pollution and aeroallergens, and mental ill health from displacement, social and political instability.(Perera 2014; Xu et al. 2012).
A well-recognized direct effect of climate change is an increase in the frequency of deadly heat waves, like that which resulted in 22,000-40,000 heat-related deaths in Europe in 2003.(Patz et al. 2005).
Finally, both air pollution and climate change contribute to social and political instability. Children’s mental and physical health is adversely affected by forced migration and population displacement, perpetuating poverty and civil unrest in low income and developing countries. These countries already bear most of the global burden of poverty and childhood disease (Sheffield and Landrigan 2011); and children less than 18 years represent 50% of their population.
THE FUTURE FOR CLEAN ENERGY
Transforming the energy system cannot be left to markets and investors alone. In some cases, the main obstacle is policy and regulation; in others, market design, institutional frameworks or local renewable resource quality. The clean energy source is a huge sector that needs a larger part of the populace and their support as it benefits all aspect of the population.
The availability of solar and wind energy is predictable, despite daily and seasonal variations. Interconnectors between national or regional grids help to balance supply and demand for power. New regulatory frameworks must allow new entrants into the power market and reflect the evolving roles of utilities and consumers.
The development of renewable energy technologies is linked to many other sectors such as agriculture, small scale industrial enterprises and poverty alleviation, it is recommended that, renewable energy related projects have a greater likelihood of success if implemented in accordance with activities in these sectors to ensure sufficient demand for the energy services providers. For example the biogas energy source which is obtained mostly from agricultural and agro-allied materials or waste.
Renewable energy is crucial in mitigating climate change, but that will not be its only benefit. These technologies will also yield a cleaner environment and job opportunities. Prior to this, entrepreneurship and managerial skills development training programme and technical courses in renewable energy technologies with a view of creating self employment and developing Energy Service Companies (ESCOs), providing services to rural areas be introduced as this will help curb the issue of unemployment affecting most parts of the world.
Lastly, sequel to the fact that current flow on renewable energy technologies is inadequate, it is recommended that demonstration projects on various renewable energy forms be widely established, so that the performance and efficiency with which services are delivered can be well checked and new methods of improving the renewable/clean energy resources sector are adequately and effectively adopted. This should also be aimed at encouraging young climate enthusiast and writers as seen from Climate trackers program.