Science of Environment- How Renewable Energy can affect Climate Change in Our Country

Climate change is a global phenomenon that has remained a threat to development globally.
It has been identified as one of the greatest challenges facing all nations, government,
business and citizens of the globe and the biggest problem of the 21st century. The threats of climate change on our green planet ‘Earth’ demands that renewable energy share in the total energy generation and consumption should be substantially increased as a matter of urgency.
Climate change has implications for both human and natural systems and could lead to
significant changes in resource utilization, production and economic activities. In response to the impact and possible effects of climate change due to predominance of fossil fuel, international, regional, national and local initiatives have been developed and implemented to limit and mitigate GHGs concentration in the Earth’s atmosphere.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a body set up in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environmental Program
(UNEP) to provide authoritative information about climate change phenomenon, asserts that the warming of the last 100 years was unusual and unlikely to be natural in origin. Nigeria faces many significant challenges associated with climate change. Although the country has a strong and diverse economy relative to other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, significant portions of its population and economy are tied to activities that are climate change sensitive and these include agriculture, livestock rearing, fisheries, and forest products extraction.

Energy is central to all human activities and it is needed to support development. Renewable
energy technologies meet these two basic situations through effective contribution to global sustainability by GHGs mitigation and significant provision of sustainable energy supply to the nation. By mitigating GHG emission and provision of sustainable energy supply, a sustainable environment and economy are guaranteed.

• Climate change issues globally:
Generally, green House Gases are emitted by natural and human activities. Quantitatively, the largest share is accounted for by power generation.

In 2004, electricity production and
transformation were responsible for 26% of global emissions, followed by industrial activities generally (about 19%) and transportation (13%). It is important to note that deforestation and forest degradation contributed about 17% of global emissions.

We need to act urgently if we are to avoid an irreversible build-up of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and global warming at a
potentially huge cost to the economy and society worldwide.

Carbon Dioxide emission by power plants.
Courtesy: blog.wired.com

Carbon dioxide emissions from over 50,000 power plants worldwide have been compiled into a massive data base called Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA) by the Centre for Global Development (CGD). CARMA shows that the greatest emitters of carbon dioxide are thedeveloped countries. Power generation plants all over the world accounts for a significant amount of CO2 emission which culminates in global warming. Globally, power generation emits nearly 10 billion tons of CO2 per year.

The U.S., with over 8,000 power plants out of the more than 50,000 worldwide, accounts for about 25 percent of that total or 2.8 billion tons. Although no single country comes close to the 2.8 billion tons of CO2 produced annually by the U.S. power sector, other countries collectively account for three-quarters of the power-related CO2 burden. China comes second after the U.S. with 2.7 billion tons.

10 highest CO2 emission power plants worldwide

There is the belief that agricultural productivity in developing countries will decline sharply
by the next few decades, as crops in areas closer to the equator may begin to suffer from the
effects of increased heat and drought. Averting such a disaster would require rapid emission
reductions as quickly as possible.

• Climate change and Nigeria:
Greenhouse gases (GHG) are gaseous constituents of the atmosphere, both natural and anthropogenic, that absorb and emit radiations at specific wavelengths within the spectrum of thermal infrared radiation emitted by the earth’s surface, the atmosphere itself and by the clouds. The primary greenhouse gases are water vapour (H2O), Carbon dioxide (CO2),
Nitrous Oxide (N2O), Methane (CH4) and Ozone (O3). Although Carbon dioxide is the most abundant of the greenhouse gases, Methane and Nitrous oxide have more global warming
potential than carbon dioxide.

Carbon dioxide emission should be strictly under control in Nigeria. Even though the
emission level in Nigeria is not so significant, the impact of such GHG emitted in one
location may be felt in a completely different location. Major areas of greenhouse gases
emission include the burning of fossil fuels in cars as well as in industrial processes and
deforestation leading to high concentration of Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In Nigeria,
the most important sources of greenhouse gases include generators, motor vehicles, waste
dumps, burning of fuelwood and coal, agricultural activities, land use changes and
deforestations, gas flaring and bush burning in general. Nigeria is one of the highest emitter
of green house gases in Africa. The practice of flaring gas by the oil companies operating inNigeria has been a major means through which GHGs are released into the atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide emissions in this area are among the highest in the world11. Some 45.8 billionkilowatts of heat are discharged into the atmosphere of the Niger Delta from flaring 1.8
billion cubic feet of gas every day. Gas flaring has raised temperatures and rendered largeareas uninhabitable.

Between 1970 and 1986, a total of about 125.5 million cubic meters of gas was produced in the Niger Delta region, about 102.3 (81.7%) million cubic meters were flared while only 2.6 million cubic meters were used as fuel by oil producing companies and about 14.6 million cubic meters were sold to other consumers12. In addition to the CO2emission, these processes emit methane, Sulphur dioxide and Nitrous gases.In view of these threats of GHG emissions, the Federal Ministry of Environment observed
that Nigeria may be exposed to the risk of climatic change consequences if not urgently
addressed. Based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projection, the
humid tropical zone of southern Nigeria, which is already too hot and too wet is expected to
be characterized by increase in both precipitation (especially at the peak of the rainy season) and temperature. Already, temperature increase in the range of 0.2oC -0.3oC per decade hasbeen observed in the various ecological zones of the country, while drought persistence has characterized the sudan-sahel regions, particularly since the late 1960s9. For the tropic humidzones of Nigeria, precipitation increases of about 2-3% for each degree of global warming may be expected.
Thus, it is reasonable to expect that the precipitation would probablyincrease by approximately 5-20% in the very humid areas of the forest regions and southern
savannah areas. The increase in temperature in these areas would also possibly increase
evaporation, reducing the effectiveness of the increase in precipitation. According to IPCC
projections, rainfall in the very humid regions of southern Nigeria is expected to increase.

This may be accompanied by increase in cloudiness and rainfall intensity, particularly during severe storms. It could also result in shifts in geographical patterns of precipitation and changes in the sustainability of the environment and management of resources. However, since the increase in temperature could increase evaporation and potential evapo-transpiration, there would be tendency towards "droughts" in parts of these humid areas of the country. In fact, recent studies have shown that precipitation decrease in the humid regions of West Africa, including southern Nigeria, since the beginning of the century is about 10-25% or about 2-5% per decade9. With increase in ocean temperatures, however, there could beincrease in the frequency of storms in the coastal zone of the country. In contrast to the humid areas of southern Nigeria, the savannah areas of Northern Nigeria would probably have less rainfall, which, coupled with the temperature increases, would reduce soil moisture availability.

Recent studies have indicated that the sudan-sahel zone of Nigeria has suffered a decrease in rainfall in the range of about 30-40% or about 3%-4% per decade since the beginning of the nineteenth century. This situation may be worsened by the expected decrease in rainfall with greater drought probabilities and more rainfall variabilities and unreliabilities. Part of the conclusions of IPCC's third assessment report is that during the 21st Century, some extreme climatic events will increase in frequency and/or severity due to changes in the mean and/or variability of climate. A wide range of climatic change impacts are observed, for instances, greater frequency and intensity of tsunamis, droughts, wildfires, floods, storms; also snowstorms, tornados, spread of infectious pests, pathogens and heat waves which, could cause greater human illness and premature mortality.

Diagram illustrating natural factors that affects climate change
Source: www.physicalgeography

There are also a number of natural factors responsible for climate change. Some of the more prominent ones are continental drift, volcanoes, solar output variation, ocean currents, the earth's tilt, and comets and meteorites e.t.c.

• Role of renewable energy in climate change mitigation:
Renewable energy sources are essentially clean,inexhaustible, unlimited and rapidly replenished naturally. Renewable energy sources have brought about the need for technology innovation as a means of addressing climate change challenges i.e. by reducing the rate and volume of GHGs concentration in the atmosphere and saving the ozone layer from on-going depletion. The use of renewable energy sources will also significantly reduce over dependency on the burning of fossil fuel. Moreover, instead of flaring gas in Nigeria, the
gases can be converted to methanol and used as fuel for both domestic and industrial applications. With the adoption of energy efficiency best practices and products, the burning of fossil fuel for energy will be greatly minimized. Nigeria has abundance of renewable
energy resources to be harnessed. Given the abundant availability of solar energy in Nigeria
and the needed political will to tap these resources, the country will definitely surmount the challenges of climate change and global warming. The sun, with an estimated diameter of 1.4 million km and at a black body temperature of 6000K, produces about 4.506 x 1020MW ofpower. About 2.055 x 1011MW of this power gets to the earth’s surface and which translatesinto a solar intensity of about 1.58kW/m2 on the earth’s surface. With the Nigerian Landmass of 794,000 km2, if 1% of this landmass is used to collect solar power at efficiency of5%, then the power available will be approximately 627,260MW.Energy Commission of Nigeria has significantly done well in this regard. Between 1999 and 2009, several installations of solar PV systems have been executed in the country. In 2008 and 2009 alone, the Commission installed over 300kWp and 1.01 MW respectively of solar PV power syatems all over the country. The installations were mainly for water pumping, streetlight applications and powering of offices. The current estimate of solar PV installations in the country is put at 6 MW of power22. Wind energy is also important in mitigatingclimate change. About 2.5% of solar energy captured by the atmosphere is being converted>into wind. The development of wind power plants is being undertaken by many countries including Nigeria, for the generation of electricity in their quest to exploit renewable energy sources. With wind energy available at an annual average speed of 4.0 m/s at the coastal boarders and northern regions, the country possesses enormous potential to develop and utilize energy from the wind for electricity generation. The coastal regions of the south and the northern part of the country are possible suitable sites for wind energy exploitation.5.

• Challenges:

1. Lack of adequate policies to facilitate the reduction or complete elimination of GHG emission-:
   In spite of expanding policies to foster climate friendly renewable energies, most energy policies still favor conventional (fossil fuel based) energy. Energy Commission of Nigeria which is the Apex Government agency responsible for coordination of policies on energy issues, has produced national policy document on energy generation and utilization. However, such policy document is yet to be passed into law by the Nigerian National Assembly.
   Consequently, this lack of legal backing to the policy document has made energy generation
   and utilization in the country very uncoordinated.

2. Inadequacy of renewable energy training and orientation programme-:
   Nigeria has a population estimated to be 150 million people. About 80% of this population live in remote and rural areas where access to modern energy systems are completely lacking.
   The level of training and orientation programme needed to meet with the energy demand of
   such population in Nigeria is grossly inadequate at the moment. There is high level of lack of
   awareness of the potentials of renewable energy applications.

3. High cost of renewable energy deployment-:
   Renewable energy deployment in remote locations is usually initially costly. This is because most of the components, especially in solar PV systems, are imported rather than
   manufactured locally. This trend is changing gradually as the costs of components are
   gradually dropping in international markets.

4. Lack of trained personnel and technical know-how in the sector-:
   The trained manpower requirement to meet the challenges of energy demand and supply needs in Nigeria is also currently very inadequate. However, Energy Research Centres under the Energy Commission of Nigeria are currently working hard in the area of training manpower development as part of their legal mandate.

5. Low level of awareness among private sectors in the Renewable Energy and other related energy projects that could promote low carbon economy.

Conclusion and recommendation-:

Mitigating climate change will therefore require stabilization of temperatures which in turn will require stabilization of atmospheric concentration of CO2 and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases produced through human activities. In order to ensure long-term climate stability, with temperature rise limited to less than 20C above the pre-industrial average, the concentration of CO2 should be drastically reduced to equivalent of 400ppm and ultimately to pre-industrial concentrations. Developing and promoting the use of renewable energies would go a long way in reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, thereby mitigating climate change. If Nigeria, as one of the developing countries in the world, can invest more on the use of renewable energy beyond what is currently planned knowing fully that the energy source is free and inexhaustible gift of nature with little or no effect on the environment, the rate of GHG emission will be reduced. Renewable energy and energy efficiency are two components that should go together to achieve sustainable and eco-friendly environment hence the need to conserve the present energy generated in the country using energy efficiency products and practices is essential for this initiative.
It is therefore recommended that the country should:

1. Establish performance standards and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission baselines formajor activities and major sources.

2. Ensure accounting and reporting of GHG emissions and identification of emissions reduction projects in private and public companies under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and encourage the regulated participation of private enterprises in
   low carbon energy generation (particularly renewables).

3. Develop policies on energy efficiency and integrate them into current energy policies.

4. Promote energy efficiency products and practices at the side of end users and energygeneration.

5. Create awareness on renewable energy and energy efficiency.

6. Establish agencies to promote the use of energy efficient products and ensure energyefficiency practices.

7. Develop and imbibe energy efficiency technologies.8. Develop appropriate drivers for the implementation of energy efficiency policy.

References
• Raghuvanshi et al, (2007), Indian institute of technology Delhi, Hauz Khas:Renewable energy resources for climate change mitigation.
• UNFCCC (1997), Kyoto protocol to the united nations framework convention onclimate change – United Nations, New York
• Crick, H.Q.P., Sparks, T.H., (1999), Climate change related to egg laying trends.Nature, 399, p 423.
• Post, E., Peterson, R.O., Stenseth, N.C., McLaren, B.E., (1999), Ecosystemconsequences of wolf behavioural response to climate. – Nature, 401, pp 905-907

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