Environmental Networking Platform for Children and Youth by SAMSUNG E&A
Stay connected with Eco-generation :
| Share 
| 
- Home >
- Our Actions >
- Ambassador report
7
Comments
LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS GETS A BOOST IN NIGERIA |
|---|
|
The Nigerian president, Mr. Muhammadu Buhari, has directed the Nigerian ministry of environment to promote the use of liquefied natural gas(LNG) for cooking purposes by Nigerians to reduce the rate of deforestation that has seen desertification slowly setting-in in some parts of the country.
The President gave the directive recently during a meeting with the permanent Secretary of the ministry, Ms. Fatima Mede. Deforestation has been one of the major environmental challenges facing Nigeria and the reason is not farfetched. Owing to the high cost and sometimes, nonavailability of kerosene or other fossil fuels sources in Nigeria, locals have mainly turned to firewood as their alternative to cooking fuel or gas. This had led to massive deforestation of Nigeria's forest resources in a very high rate such that if not abated now, will really endanger the country's forest and wildlife resources. Evident to this fact is desert encroachment in some parts of Nigeria, especially in the North, occasioned by excessive deforestation. In 2011, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture ranked Nigeria worst globally in terms of deforestation saying it had lost 400,000 hectares of forest land to deforestation. Nigeria has 10 million hectares of forest land which represents about 10 percent of her total land mass going way below the Food and Agricultural Organization(FAO) recommended minimum national standard of 25 percent. But then, is the government's idea to promote the use of LPG a great one? The LPG looks is really a nice idea. They are purer and a clean source of energy for cooking. Infact, Total website said this on LPG, "It is a clean-burning fuel whose combustion generates no unburned residues, particulates or soot, and releases less greenhouse gas than the other fossil fuels. Its high calorific value allows latest-generation power plants to achieve high energy efficiency using cogeneration or combined cycle configurations, limiting both energy consumption and atmospheric emissions. On the strength of these advantages, the share of natural gas in power generation is projected to rise from 20% in 2004 to nearly 25% in 2030". But then, accessibility is key here. LPGs are known to be pretty expensive and hence difficult for a majority of the Nigerian populace to consistently buy. Even the government are aware of the difficulty as they admitted that it will be tough to implement the idea in villages hence the reason why their efforts on the LPGs will be concentrated on the cities probably, for now. If the Nigerian refineries can produce enough of the LPGs, then, it will go a long way to help too. We just need to find solutions to our deforestation challenges and this is a nice step by the government. Planting of trees remains the easiest way for everyone to get involved though. I can't say enough how happy I am to see this new government touching these neglected environmental issues with deserved attention. I hope the best is yet to come. Photo 1: timeslive.co.za
|
  .jpg)
|
|
|
|
|
Previous : Development in the North: A Ca...
7 Comments
I do hope that Nigeria can produce sufficient LPGs! In this way, your country will get a lot of benefit including economical. Thanks for sharing! Keep it up mate. =D
Posted 20-08-2015 13:26
I hope better & sustainable future is ahead for Nigeria with this project.
Posted 19-08-2015 19:32
A very good initiative by the new president.The use of firewood for cooking purposes in not sustainable and is responsible for deforestation.LNG is indeed a much purer source of cooking.All these steps can play a very important role in preservation of our forests.Thank you for reporting.
Posted 19-08-2015 14:15
Thanks for sharing current energy status of Nigeria. Like you said, we do hope Nigerian refineries can produce enough of the LPGs in the near future. I guess that leads the economic growth of the country as well. :)
Posted 19-08-2015 11:20
Great move by the Nigerian President. Deforestation is a major threat to the destruction of our planet. Hence clean fuels like LPG is a good option for Nigeria. Thanks for sharing, Udeh.
Posted 19-08-2015 02:44
It is another great move by the new President. This sounds a great solution to deforestation issue and will be a source of clean cooking. Even though , it will be limited to city but still at least quite a lot of fuel demand will be met by LPG so that deforestation will reduce to quite an extent-hopefully. Thanks for sharing , Udeh.
Posted 18-08-2015 17:32
Government seems quite positive about reducing the emerging environmental issues. Nigerian Government is truelly working hard. Thanks for sharing friend.
Posted 18-08-2015 09:48