A high-energy system is necessary for an economy to improve productivity and global competitiveness. Although Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy, market growth is low due to the electricity sector’s inadequacies. Several sectors have suffered due to these inefficiencies. Poor power supply has led to the increase of stand-alone generators, which are not cost-effective and require high maintenance.
The expansion of renewable and clean energy systems such as solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, and biofuel has emerged from global efforts to create sustainable and affordable energy systems. In Nigeria, solar power has achieved the most traction among these renewable energy options, and it is now used in a variety of modest to large-scale activities. Other renewable energy technologies such as biofuel, on the other hand, are underutilised.
Evaluating Nigeria’s agricultural sector, it’s clear that there’s a developing demand for biofuel obtained from crop and animal waste. Currently, these agricultural wastes are not being used to make biofuels in large quantities. Biofuels have the potential to generate 16.2 per cent of Nigeria’s transportation energy needs. However, according to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), most of Nigeria’s biomass resources are being utilised in traditional biofuel production for cooking purposes. Technological advancements have made it easier to produce fuels such as ethanol, biodiesel, and methanol from agricultural waste materials.
China, the United States, and Brazil are some of the countries with huge biofuel energy consumption capacities (4.6%,17%, and 9%), respectively. In Nigeria, a few companies, such as Ajima Farms, utilise agricultural waste to generate energy on a small scale. However, several factors such as poor regulatory framework, inadequate research, limited access to technology, inadequate policy formulation, and lack of access to finance have hampered the development of biofuels.
Unlocking biofuel potential in Nigeria will require an integrated approach. Firstly, the government needs to provide an enabling environment through adequate policy formulation and implementation. This will help to attract investment in the space. Secondly, the government and the private sector need to improve funding for research and development of technology and capacity and knowledge provision as biofuels production is a technologically intensive process.
Also, there is a need for the government and policymakers to draft and implement policies that will embed the collection and processing of agricultural waste resources.
Biofuel is a renewable energy resource with significant potential and can be utilised in various sectors. There is, however, a need to strengthen efforts toward harnessing biofuel energy in Nigeria.