RENEWABLE ENERGY FOR CLIMATE SUSTAINABILITY IN NIGERIA BY Nsolibe Ugochukwu Williams And Obi-Uchendu, Evangelina C Abstract Nigeria has a number of renewable and non- renewable energy resources but is faced with serious environmental degradations due to exploitation and exploration of hydrocarbons in the environment. Environmental degradation could be solved if renewable energy sources are effectively explored and used as primary sources of energy into the energy mix for climate sustainability in Nigeria. The paper examines issues relating to renewable energy and climate sustainability as examined from both current and future perspectives Nigeria could benefit the targeted interventions that would reduce that need to be considered and appropriately addressed in the shift to its sustainable energy future. INTRODUCTION Energy plays the most vital role in the economic growth, progress and development as well as poverty eradication and security of any nation. Uninterrupted energy is a vital issue for all countries today. Future economic growth crucially depends on the longterm available, accessible and environmentally friendly. Security, climate change and public health are interrelated with energy (Ramcharandra and Boucar, 2011). Energy is a very important ingredient for development and or powerful engine of social and economic opportunity in that no country can manage and develop beyond a subsistence economy without having at least minimum access to energy services for larger proportion of it population. Renewable energy that comes from sources which are continually replenished such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves arid geothermal heat. About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewable resources with 10% of all energy from traditional biomass, mainly used for heating and 34% from hydroelectricity (Akabue, 2012). New and renewable sources of energy have received great attention since the world summit on sustainable development was held in Johannesburg in 2002. Solar, wind and hydroelectricity power not only produce minimal
carbon emissions once the generating systems are in place, they also help reduce poverty through improved energy access in under saved areas. Energy from renew sources currently accounts for five percent of global energy supply. The literal definition of climate according to (Uche, 2002) states that it is the general weather conditions prevailing in an area such as Nigeria over a period of time. In effect, climate change will mean a change in such weather condition for a particular location over time. The term 'climate change' today is generally used when, referring to the change in our climate which has been observed since the early of the 20th century. The changes which are seen over recent years and those which are predicted over the next century are thought to be mainly due to human behavior rather than due to natural changes in the atmosphere. What causes this change cannot be treated in isolation without looking at greenhouse effect which is caused by the release of destructive gases by human action which in turn brings about the warming of the earth surface by increase in the earth s temperature. The increase in temperature in turn causes the melting of ice which contributes to the rise in sea level among other disastrous consequences. Arising from this is the question; can Nigeria be affected by the global climate change? In this regard an example may suffice. The drought of the 1970s that swept most of the Sahel region of Africa left the region, including Nigeria with general water resources issue. The consequences of that are the low agricultural output, limited water supply and inadequate water reserve for power generation which the region is associated with. Again, the increasing flood in the coastal and non-coastal regions of the country is indicative of the expected effect of climate change. There are two extremes of the expected challenges of the climate change in Nigeria, viz, increase in rainy and dry seasons with each lasting approximately six months on the average, that is, April to October and October to March, respectively. A rise in temperature of between 14% to 58% by 2100 according to the Inter Government Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, will have serious negative effect on the socio- economic well being of the country in the following ways: Flooding in the coastal areas, higher risk of 100 years flooding occurring at shorter intervals; Landslides especially in the North will cause increase health issue such as meningitis, cataract, malaria and yellow fever, etc.
Desertification will increase and more drought will encourage locust and white flies, which in turn will affect food and water supply; High cost of construction especially in the coastal areas; Deforestation as a result of relocating of people from the flood affected areas of the coast. Change in land use in the coast have drastic effect on agricultural output and hence livelihood. Wildlife will also be affected with possible effect on the entire food chain. Environmental Problem/Degradation in Nigeria Adeyinka, Bankole and Olaye (2005) noted the following as critical to environmental problems but not limited to; Sheet erosion Gully erosion Flooding Draught and desertification Oil production Urban decay and squatter settlements Municipal pollution and waste Climate change/ozone layer depletion and global warming. The most environmental pollutants associated with fossil fuel consumption include but not limited to conventional pollutants such as SO 4, NO x, particulate and CO. Other micro pollutants include CO2 and Volatile Organic Compound (VOC). According to Dincer (1998) noted that these gaseous pollutants and their particulates pose a serious treat in the environment and human health. The effects of these gaseous pollutants include acid rain, ozone layer depletion and global warming.
The table below shows the environmental impacts of pollutants associated to fossil fuel energy production and utilization. Gaseous pollutants Greenhouse effect Ozone depletion Acid precipitation Smog Carbon monoxide (CO) Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) + ± Methane (CH 4 ) + ± Nitric Oxide (NO) and Nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) ± + + Nitrogen oxide (SO 2 ) + ± Sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) ± Chlorofluorocarbon CFC - + Ozone O 3 + Source: Speight (1996) 1 Where ± stands for positive contributions and - stands for variation with conditions and chemistry may not be a general contributor. Acid Rain Acid rain or acid deposition results when gaseous emissions of sulfur oxide and nitrogen oxide (NOx) come into contact with water vapour together with sunlight and are chemically converted to strong acid compounds such as sulfuric acid (H 2 S0 4 ) and nitric acid (HNO 3 ) in conjunction with other organic and inorganic chemicals which are deposited on the earth as aerosols and particulates or are carried to the earth by rain drops, snowflakes, fog or dew (wet deposition) (Nwokoye, 2006). Energy mix as a potential solution The opinion of Akubue (2012) concerning the environmental problems we are facing today has been a challenge world over. (Gustaro, 2010) stated that the impact of energy consumption on emissions would depend on the primary energy mix and on the final use of this energy. According to SIEMNES (2007) climate change is one of the greatest challenges, because it is associated with energy production and utilization. The main
objective of this paper borders on how renewable energy can ameliorate the negative effects of climate change that come with present day use especially fossil fuel. Since Kyoto protocol expired in 2012, the world should chart a new course on new agreement in mitigating climate change. A new generation technology outside the carbon-intensive generation technologies should be developed. Climate Variability and Natural Environmental Hazards The inter-governmental panel on climate change (IPCC) studies suggests Africa will suffer greater effects of climate change than any other region of the world. Projections includes the decrease in rainfall in the arid and areas of Eastern and Southem Africa and increasing drought and desertification in the North Central African. In West Africa, the countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mauritania, Nigeria and Nigeria all face water scarcity by 2025 (Preinceton, 2008). Africa needs to set up anti-climate change actions as a legacy to future generations. However, not many African countries have this as a top priority in view of the pressing development challenges being confronted by the African Continent such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and low agricultural production. Conclusion In conclusion, ecologically friendly sustainable development in Nigeria is about decision making, trade-off and the delicate balance of priorities like any change process, it requires participation and commitment from top to bottom from government policies to individual behaviours. In addition, new technological and social innovations will be required to provide alternatives to help all Nigerian maintain their livelihood without depleting the scarce natural resources available to Nigeria. Recommendation In this study, it is recommended that the country should do the following: Create awareness on renewable energy and energy efficiency. Promote energy - efficient products and appropriate practices at the end users and energy generation. Develop and imbibe energy efficiency technologies.
Take advantage of global partnership, such as the Residential Energy Efficiency Project Initiative of UK to assist the country in a creative integration of renewable energy systems. Develop appropriate drivers for the implementation of energy efficiency policies. Clean energy facilities should be embraced in the different sectors of the Nigeria economy. More efficient passive and full usage of solar technologies in the residential, commercial and industrial sectors. Use of Compressed Natured Gas (CNG) as a transport fuel. Use of biofuels as a transport fuel. In addition to these the existing research and development centres and technology development institutions should be adequately strengthened to support the shift towards an increased use of renewable energy. Nigeria should strengthen her capacity to implement multilateral environmental agreements. Nigeria is signatories to most multilateral environmental agreements that showcase global consensuses on the causes and effects of environmental challenges. Examples, Montreal protocol, the convention to combat desertification and many others. However, often times, African governments lack the capacity to implement these agreements or honour the commitments therein.. That is why multilateral initiatives such as the Global Environment Fund (G E F) meet these objectives. Nigeria government needs to demonstrate their capacity to be able to tackle these challenges. REFERENCES Adeyinka, M. A, Bankole, P. O. and Olaye, S. (2005). Environment Statistics; Situation in Federal Republic of Nigeria. Being country report presented at the Workshop on Environment Statistics held in Dakar, Senegal, February 28th - March. Akabue I. (2012). Renewable Energy for Environmental Stability in Nigeria. Nigerian Journal of Solar Energy. Volume 20, Issues 4/5p. 427-53.
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