Climate Change: Nigeria’s Quick Switch from Fossil Fuel to Renewable Energy.
We are at the point in Nigeria where we need better, fairer, smarter and cleaner renewable sources of energy to cope with the severe environmental pollution arising from oil prospecting and exploration in the country. Choosing to switch to 100% renewable power isn’t just a safe thing to do. It’s something that will have a very real impact on our environment.
Well, from the creation of Nigeria in 1914 to the end of colonialism in 1960, and then until the end of the first decade after independence, agriculture was the mainstay of the economy. Nigeria was known for exploiting principal agricultural products such as cocoa from the west, groundnut, and cotton produced from the north, and palm oil from the east. Oil exploration began in Nigeria in 1956 but did not play a significant role in the Nigerian economy until the early 1970s. From this early 1970s, the yield of oil began to increase and the dominance of agriculture in the country’s economy began to decline. Today, Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Sub-Saharan Africa, with about 32 percent and 34.2 percent of Africa’s oil and gas reserves respectively, the fifth-largest exporting country in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the fifth-largest oil-exporting country to the United States of America.
This shift from Agro economy to the oil economy has all along generated a mixed feeling of blessing and curse. It has been much observed as curse because activities emanating from the exploration and production crude oil have taken the form of oil spillage, environmental pollution, destruction of landscape, unemployment, socio-economic and political instability, and pervasive poverty in Nigeria particularly the Southern part of Nigeria, which is popularly known as Niger Delta where the oil and gas operation in the country is nested. This region which covers a landmass of over 70,000 km2 and cuts across 800 oil-producing communities, nearly 2 million people live within 2.5 miles of a gas flare. Gas flares are killing crops, wild animals fleeing, polluting water and damaging human health. For example, according to the World Bank’s Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership rankings from July 2018, Nigeria is the sixth-largest gas-flaring country globally.
With the vast fossil fuel reserves available in Nigeria, making a switch to renewable energy may be difficult. However, renewable energy alternatives will increase energy capacity and availability in the country. It will lead to positive contributions to rural development, lower health costs, energy independence, and climate change mitigation. Although, renewable energy cannot compete with fossil fuels on price, however, the margins are narrowing. The fact is overdependence of Nigeria’s economy on oil will continue to have detrimental consequences on the social wellbeing of its citizens. Hence, the need to search for renewable energy alternatives is utmost. Here are three ways I think Nigeria can make the shift from fossils to cleaner renewable energy:
· Removal of subsidies from fossil fuel and putting a tax on carbon
By lowering prices, subsidies drive wasteful energy consumption which increases local air pollution and congestion, while crowding out investment in renewables and energy efficiency. The International Monetary Fund estimates that removing fossil fuel subsidies and then taxing fossil fuels correctly would lead to a decline in fossil-fuel related carbon emissions by over 20 percent globally. Removing these subsidies would also reduce premature air pollution-related deaths by over 50 percent and raise government revenue by US$2.9 trillion says IMF.
· Strong Policy Framework for financing renewable energy projects
The use of publicly funded financial instruments to support the large-scale deployment of renewable energy project needs to be underpinned by an effective policy and planning framework. Without this, there is a high risk of funds being directed to ineffective or wasteful uses. An effective policy and planning framework will identify which renewable energy projects are to be pursued, based on analysis of the relative costs and resource availability, the potential for scaling up, and identification of priority technologies is central to keeping the global average surface temperature increase well below 2°C.
· Improve access to electricity and clean cooking
Access to clean cooking solutions and the use of renewable energy in heat generation and transport are still lagging far behind the global goals in the country. A clean energy revolution in Nigeria is urgently needed to win the fight against energy poverty and climate. Clean energy provides a golden thread to deliver on the promise of Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement. It would unlock sustainable economic growth, improve human health and well-being and enable women and children to lead more productive lives. Beyond direct economic and social benefits, clean energy access will raise human security and build resilience in states and communities to help limit the risk of large-scale migration across Nigeria.
Written by Oluwaseyi Ajala — Climate Blogger | Photographer | Co-founder @RethinkEducati1 | Alumnus @yalirlcwa|@selfless4africa| Tech2018 @unesco_mgiep | Ambassador @CoalitionWILD
