The News (Lagos)
Olubi Olutayo
11 June 2001
In 1987, concern for the level of depletion of the Ozone layer was rife so much so that nearly all the nations of the world came together in Montreal, Canada to discuss the issue. Nigeria was among the participants. One of the many agreements reached at the summit was the eradication of some variants of refrigerants capable of eroding the ozone layer. These variants are CFC-11, CFC-12 and R502. The fallout of the conference was the Montreal Protocol, a document signed by all the participating countries to phase out the refrigerants. Four years after the developed countries had implemented the document, Nigeria is commencing work on fashioning a Refrigerant Management Plan (RMP) designed at eradicating the dangerous variants. The project, which is being coordinated worldwide by the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, is being done in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Environment which in turn has picked Global Environmental Technology Limited, GET as the projects consultant in Nigeria.
Mr. John Aibangbee of GET told TheNEWS that the first step towards drafting a plan would be to ascertain an estimate of the national consumption of these refrigerants. This could only be known through a survey of the refrigeration service sector which distributes refrigeration gas for commercial and industrial refrigeration uses and commercial and industrial air conditioning. Other sources are the mobile dispensers of refrigeration gas for cars, buses, fishing boats, refrigerated trucks and containers. Major servicing outlets listed include Leventis, SCOA, R.T. Briscoe, Mandillas and Naida.
Importers of refrigerants are also to be contacted.
The survey, Aibangbee explained, would be carried out in the six geo-political zones in the country, starting from Lagos. The exercise is expected to last a period of four months.
The co-operation of two independent associations - the Nigerian Association of Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Practitioners (NARAP) and the Nigerian Independent Trawlers Owners Association (NITOA) - has been secured for the project. The NARAP claims a membership of about 25,000 nationwide. To the body, the need for a refrigerant management plan is not new. First intimated of the need to embark on such a scheme in 1996 by the defunct Federal Environmental Protection Agency, FEPA. Consequently, NARAP began preparations for the plan. But FEPA foot-dragged. This put paid to the initiative then. At the end of this new exercise, a team consisting of representatives of the Ozone Office of the Federal Ministry of Environment, UNDP's international consultants and GET staff will meet to develop a good representation of the consumption data of refrigerants collected across the country. This will help the team draw up a workable RMP, Aibangbee said.
The overall effort is being geared towards the gradual easing out of the use of the CFC-11, CFC-12 and R502 variants of refrigeration gas by 2010. And one of the many options available, Aibangbee explained, is to retrieve the stock of the refrigeration gas available in the country from the importers, suppliers and service providers for recycling. The process, he said, would involve the extraction of hazardous chemical components from these refrigerants. The refined refrigerant gas will then be re-sold to the suppliers and others.
The gain is two-fold. The importers and suppliers would be saved the agony of losing their stock of refrigerant due to the clean up exercise. Moreover, they will have the advantage of reducing the cost of replenishing their stock with the new acceptable variant, R-134a which is expensive abroad. The market price of R-134a if converted is N18,000 per 13.6 kg can while the old variants presently sell for N5,000 and N6,900 per 13.6 kg can.
There is also a technical advantage to the arrangement. Technicians of the relevant bodies would be trained on how to handle the new technology. A concrete RMP is expected within the next six months.
This, Aibangbee enthused would place the country in good stead in the global arena.
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