Daily Trust (Abuja)
29 October 2009
Abuja — The Energy Commissions of Nigeria (ECN) has advised the federal government to fast track the adoption of other alternative sources of energy to meet the present shortfall in energy supply and in the future without destroying the environment.
The Director General of the commission, Abubakar Sambo gave the advised at a workshop on: "Strengthening advocacy for use of alternative sources of energy for sustainable development by women in leadership positions," held at the Yar' adua Center, Abuja.
While identifying the need for the federal government to embrace other alternative sources of energy, Sambo, noted that petroleum products, being a depleting energy resource, contribute to environmental problems and adverse climate change effect in its exploitation and consumption.
According to him, petroleum products and natural gas constitute over 80 per cent of the commercial energy consumed in the country.
"It is also a fact that over 90 per cent of the energy needs of rural communities, who constitute 70 per cent of the nation's population in Nigeria, are met from burning of fuel wood.
"It should be noted that the fuel wood, which is usually sourced from the natural surrounding forest and shrubs, is in most cases replaced through planned and systematic replacement techniques," he said.
The Director General added that forest, destroyed for fuel wood production are forest lost forever with adverse environmental consequences.
This pattern of energy consumption, he said is unacceptable and indeed unsustainable.
"If we are to consider and be responsible for the well being of our future generations, other alternative sources of energy and techniques that will meet our present energy needs as well as that of our future generation without the destruction of the environment must be developed and utilized," he said.
Sambo asserted that Nigeria is endowed with significant levels of solar energy, wind, biomass and hydropower resources which are renewable and more environmentally friendly than petroleum resources.
The identified energy resources, he noted are widely acceptable as suitable for driving sustainable development.
"However, the required supply mix has been hindered due to very weak political will," he said.
The Director General of the Raw Material Research and Development Council, (RMRDC), Peter Onwualu, urged women in leadership to ensure the capacity building of the Nigerian women in the field of raw material processing.
According to him, over 80 per cent of processing of raw material is carried out by women in their small scale categories.
He noted that Nigerian women have the potentials for the growing of the fixed stocks used in the manufacturing of bio fuel.
He urged the women in position of leadership to assist in training women in the use of simple machines for shelling melon, processing garri, salt, fruit juices among others.
He said, "Women in leadership position should endeavour to assist the Nigerian women, not necessarily on advance technology, but building their capacity to be able to use simple fabricating machines for shelling melon, processing garri, salt, fruit juices etc."
Minister of Science and technology, Alhassan Bako Zaku, said Nigeria as a nation must be proactive in its plan at developing alternative energy sources that do not deplete and environmentally friendly.
This, he said will supplement the conventional energy sources and ultimately drive the economy for sustainable development.
He said: "Renewable energy sources of solar, wind, hydropower, biomass, which are available in our country are the most suitable sources for sustainable development."
He noted that fast tracking development and integration of these alternative sources of energy in the nation's supply mix can only be driven by political will.
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Renewable energy and more efficient energy use are the ways to go, but you shouldn't wait for the political will and a top-down approach. There are biomass sources and processing methods that can be used by the poor. There are new and more efficient stoves for cooking with less fuel. There are newer, more effective solar cookers coming out too. You can solve many organic waste problems with anaerobic digestion to produce methane fuel gas. Plans for building digesters are available on the internet. They can be made quite inexpensively. They can also be bought "off the shelf" on the internet: a well proven technology. Among the feedstocks that you can use for biomass are the aquatic weeds that choke so many of your waterways. They are terrifyingly renewable. They can also be made into biomass briquettes. So much can be done at the local level. The people must do the labor. Why wait for the FG?