- Nigeria is working to reduce its Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 20 per cent by 2030.
- Over 30 per cent of the Nigerian population lack access to electricity, and more than 60 per cent rely on traditional energy sources.
The Director of the National Centre for Energy and Environment, Energy Commission of Nigeria, Professor Dennis Igbinomwanhia, said that Integrated Energy Design (IED) is essential in achieving energy security. Igbinomwanhia, who is also a Professor of Design and Manufacturing Engineering at the University of Benin, Benin City, made this known while delivering a Keynote address at an awareness workshop titled “Nigerian Energy Calculator 2050, Energy Tools.”
He stated that energy security is essential to all human activities and critical to social and economic development. The professor added that Its availability, accessibility and affordability determine the rate and state of development. He said that Nigerian Greenhouse Gas Emissions in 2014 were 492.44 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e), totalling 1.01 per cent of global GHG emissions, but that the country is working to reduce it by 20 per cent in 2030.
According to him, over 30 per cent of the Nigerian population lack access to electricity, and more than 60 per cent rely on traditional energy sources (firewood, charcoal, dung and crop residues) for their cooking and production activities. “We all know that this will compromise the social and economic conditions of the users. Nigeria has vast energy resources in both the conventional and renewable categories. Integrated Energy Design is essential in achieving energy supply and security; energy demand and supply projection are also integral to energy design at all levels.
“Energy is essential to all human activities and, indeed, critical to social and economic development. Its availability, accessibility and affordability determine the rate and state of development. Energy demand in Nigeria currently outstrips the supply with attendant cost implications. In its latest National Multidimensional Poverty Index Report launched recently, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said that 63 per cent of Nigerians are poor due to a lack of access to health, education, and living standards, alongside unemployment and shocks.
“A net-zero energy system is one that achieves a balance between the greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere and those taken out. Policymakers in many nations are looking for effective approaches to achieve net-zero energy system. Energy modelling can assist national decision-makers in determining strategies that achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.”