|
|
Nigeria: FG Moves to Convert Coal to Fuel
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
Vanguard (Lagos)
6 May 2008
Posted to the web 7 May 2008
Tony Edike
Enugu
THE Federal Government has directed the Project Development Institute (PRODA), Enugu to explore ways of converting coal to fuel as part of measures to reduce over-reliance on petroleum products for energy.
Minister of State for Science and Technology, Dr Alhassan Bako Zaku, who gave the directive when he visited the institute as part of his one day facility tour of Federal Parastatals in Enugu State, said the government was uncomfortable with the underutilization of the large coal deposit in the country.
He asked the institute to do everything within its reach to carry out the directive, saying Nigeria's over reliance on crude oil for the production of fuel in spite of the availability of other natural resources that could generate the product, was unacceptable.
"I have directed the Director General of PRODA to work towards the conversion of coal to fuel. It is something that we can do. We cannot continue to over rely on crude oil for fuel. Since most activities require fuel, there is need to look for other sources to generate the product. Since we are blessed with coal deposits, we can work towards its conversion to fuel," Zaku said.
|
The Minister pointed out that with the current erratic power supply in the country there was need for the invention of locally made machines that would not rely on electricity to function.
According to him, there was no need to manufacture for instance, Cassava processing machine that can only function with electricity. "We should be aware that some of these processing machines are mostly needed in the villages. The villages may not have electricity. How then can we you justify the invention of processing machines that rely on electricity to function?" he stated.
The minister expressed surprise over the high degree of decay at PRODA and ordered the DG to forward a request on how to improve the situation of things at the institute.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 Vanguard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
