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Energy and
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social media. development
in Nigeria: the way forward
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Sunday Olayinka Oyedepo
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Energy, Sustainability and Society 2, Article number: 15
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Access to clean modern

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enormous challenge facing the African continent
because energy is fundamental for socioeconomic
development and poverty eradication. Today, 60%
to 70% of the Nigerian population does not have
access to electricity. There is no doubt that the
present power crisis afflicting Nigeria will persist
unless the government diversifies the energy
sources in domestic, commercial, and industrial
sectors and adopts new available technologies to
reduce energy wastages and to save cost. This
review examines a set of energy policy
interventions, which can make a major
contribution to the sustainable economic,
environmental, and social development of Africa's
most populated country, Nigeria. Energy efficiency
leads to important social benefits, such as reducing
the energy bills for poor households. From an
economic point of view, implementing the country's
renewable energy target will have significant costs,
but these can partly be offset by selling carbon
credits according to the rules of the ‘Clean
Development Mechanism’ agreed some 10 years
ago, which will result in indirect health benefits.
Nigeria could benefit from the targeted
interventions that would reduce the local air
pollution and help the country to tackle greenhouse
gas emissions. Many factors that need to be
considered and appropriately addressed in the shift
to its sustainable energy future are examined in this
article. These include a full exploitation and
promotion of renewable energy resources, energy
efficiency practices, as well as the application of
energy conservation measures in various sectors
such as in the construction of industrial,
residential, and office buildings, in transportation,
etc.

Review

Background
Energy plays the most vital role in the economic
growth, progress, and development, as well as
poverty eradication and security of any nation.
Uninterrupted energy supply is a vital issue for all
countries today. Future economic growth crucially
depends on the long-term availability of energy
from sources that are affordable, accessible, and
environmentally friendly. Security, climate change,
and public health are closely interrelated with
energy[1]. Energy is an important factor in all the
sectors of any country's economy. The standard of
living of a given country can be directly related to
the per capita energy consumption. The recent
world's energy crisis is due to two reasons: the
rapid population growth and the increase in the
living standard of whole societies. The per capita
energy consumption is a measure of the per capita
income as well as a measure of the prosperity of a
nation[2].
Energy supports the provision of basic needs such
as cooked food, a comfortable living temperature,
lighting, the use of appliances, piped water or
sewerage, essential health care (refrigerated
vaccines, emergency, and intensive care),
educational aids, communication (radio, television,
electronic mail, the World Wide Web), and
transport. Energy also fuels productive activities
including agriculture, commerce, manufacturing,
industry, and mining. Conversely, a lack of access
to energy contributes to poverty and deprivation
and can contribute to the economic decline. Energy
and poverty reduction are not only closely
connected with each other, but also with the
socioeconomic development, which involves
productivity, income growth, education, and
health[3].
The energy crisis, which has engulfed Nigeria for
almost two decades, has been enormous and has
largely contributed to the incidence of poverty by
paralyzing industrial and commercial activities
during this period. The Council for Renewable
Energy of Nigeria estimates that power outages
brought about a loss of 126 billion naira (US$
984.38 million) annually[4]. Apart from the huge
income loss, it has also resulted in health hazards
due to the exposure to carbon emissions caused by
constant use of ‘backyard generators’ in different
households and business enterprises,
unemployment, and high cost of living leading to a
deterioration of living conditions.
Moreover, according to the Central Bank estimate
in 1985, Nigeria consumed 8,771,863 tonnes of oil
equivalent[5]. This is equal to about 180,000
barrels of oil per day. Since then, oil consumption
in Nigeria has drastically increased. The effect of
this increase on the economy relying solely on
revenue from oil is tremendous. Also, the
Department for Petroleum Resources[6] reported
an amount of petroleum of more than 78% of the
total energy consumption in Nigeria. In the present
predicament as a nation, it is obvious that
depending mainly on fossil fuel (petroleum) is not
enough to meet the energy needs of the country.
Since Nigeria is blessed with abundant renewable
energy resources such as hydroelectric, solar, wind,
tidal, and biomass, there is a need to harness these
resources and chart a new energy future for
Nigeria. In this regard, the government has a
responsibility to make renewable energy available
and affordable to all.
Many indigenous researchers have looked into the
availability of renewable energy resources in
Nigeria with a view to establishing their viability in
the country. Onyebuchi[7] estimated the technical
potential of solar energy in Nigeria with a 5%
device conversion efficiency put at 15.0 × 1014 kJ of
useful energy annually. This equates to about
258.62 million barrels of oil equivalent annually,
which corresponds to the current national annual
fossil fuel production in the country. This will also
amount to about 4.2 × 105 GW/h of electricity
production annually, which is about 26 times the
recent annual electricity production of 16,000
GW/h in the country. In their work, Chineke and
Igwiro[8] show that Nigeria receives abundant
solar energy that can be usefully harnessed with an
annual average daily solar radiation of about 5.25
kW h/m2/day. This varies between 3.5 kW
h/m2/day at the coastal areas and 7 kW h/m2/day
at the northern boundary. The average amount of
sunshine hours all over the country is estimated to
be about 6.5 h. This gives an average annual solar
energy intensity of 1,934.5 kW h/m2/year; thus,
over the course of a year, an average of 6,372,613
PJ/year (approximately 1,770 TW h/year) of solar
energy falls on the entire land area of Nigeria. This
is about 120,000times the total annual average
electrical energy generated by the Power Holding
Company of Nigeria (PHCN). With a 10%
conservative conversion efficiency, the available
solar energy resource is about 23 times the Energy
Commission of Nigeria's (ECN) projection of the
total final energy demand for Nigeria in the year
2030[9]. To enhance the developmental trend in
the country, there is every need to support the
existing unreliable energy sector with a sustainable
source of power supply through solar energy.
Moreover, many indigenous researchers have also
explored the availability of wind energy sources in
Nigeria with a view of implementing them if there
is a likelihood for their usage. Adekoya and
Adewale[10] analyzed the wind speed data of 30
stations in Nigeria, determining the annual mean
wind speeds and power flux densities, which vary
from 1.5 to 4.1 m/s to 5.7 to 22.5 W/m2,
respectively. Fagbenle and Karayiannis[11] carried
out a 10-year wind data analysis from 1979 to 1988,
considering the surface and upper winds as well as
the maximum gusts, whereas Ngala et al.[12]
performed a statistical analysis of the wind energy
potential in Maiduguri, Borno State, using the
Weibull distribution and 10-year (1995 to 2004)
wind data. A cost benefit analysis was also
performed using the wind energy conversion
systems for electric power generation and supply in
the State. Each of these reports point to the fact
that the nation is blessed with a vast opportunity
for harvesting wind for electricity production,
particularly at the core northern states, the
mountainous parts of the central and eastern
states, and also the offshore areas, where wind is
abundantly available throughout the year. The
issue then is for the country to look at ways of
harnessing resources towards establishing wind
farms in various regions and zones that have been
identified as possessing abilities for the harvesting
of wind energy.
Akinbami[13] reported that the total hydroelectric
power potential of the country was estimated to be
about 8,824 MW with an annual electricity
generation potential in excess of 36,000 GW h.
This consists of 8,000 MW of large hydropower
technology, while the remaining 824 MW is still
small-scale hydropower technology. Presently, 24%
and 4% of both large and small hydropower
potentials, respectively, in the country have been
exploited.
Akinbami et al.'s assessment[14] indicated that the
identified feedstock substrate for an economically
feasible biogas program in Nigeria includes water
lettuce, water hyacinth, dung, cassava leaves, urban
refuse, solid (including industrial) waste,
agricultural residues, and sewage. The authors'
views include the following: Nigeria produces about
227,500 tonnes of fresh animal wastes daily. Since
1 kg of fresh animal wastes produces about 0.03 m3
gas, then Nigeria could produce about 6.8 million
m3 of biogas every day. In addition to all these, 20
kg of municipal solid wastes per capital has been
estimated to be generated in the country annually.
The prime objectives of this paper are (1) to review
the current status of the energy resources, the
energy demand, and supply in Nigeria and (2) to
explore the prospects of utilizing renewable energy
resources and to increase the energy efficiency as a
possible means of sustainable development in
Nigeria.

Energy situation in Nigeria

Nigeria is Africa's energy giant. It is the continent's
most prolific oil-producing country, which, along
with Libya, accounts for two-thirds of Africa's crude
oil reserves. It ranks second to Algeria in natural
gas[15]. Most of Africa's bitumen and lignite
reserves are found in Nigeria. In its mix of
conventional energy reserves, Nigeria is simply
unmatched by any other country on the African
continent. It is not surprising therefore that energy
export is the mainstay of the Nigerian economy.
Also, primary energy resources dominate the
nation's industrial raw material endowment.
Several energy resources are available in Nigeria in
abundant proportions. The country possesses the
world's sixth largest reserve of crude oil. Nigeria
has an estimated oil reserve of 36.2 billion barrels.
It is increasingly an important gas province with
proven reserves of nearly 5,000 billion m3. The oil
and gas reserves are mainly found and located
along the Niger Delta, Gulf of Guinea, and Bight of
Bonny. Most of the exploration activities are
focused in deep and ultra-deep offshore areas with
planned activities in the Chad basin, in the
northeast. Coal and lignite reserves are estimated
to be 2.7 billion tons, while tar sand reserves
represent 31 billion barrels of oil equivalent. The
identified hydroelectricity sites have an estimated
capacity of about 14,250 MW. Nigeria has
significant biomass resources to meet both
traditional and modern energy uses, including
electricity generation[16]. Table1 shows Nigeria's
energy reserves/potentials. There has been a supply
and demand gap as a result of the inadequate
development and inefficient management of the
energy sector. The supply of electricity, the
country's most used energy resource, has been
erratic[17].

Table 1 Nigeria's energy reserves/capacity

 as in December 2005

The situation in the rural areas of the country is

that most end users depend on fuel wood. Fuel
wood is used by over 70% of Nigerians living in the
rural areas. Nigeria consumes over 50 million
tonnes of fuel wood annually, a rate which exceeds
the replenishment rate through various
afforestation programs. Sourcing fuel wood for
domestic and commercial uses is a major cause of
desertification in the arid-zone states and erosion
in the southern part of the country. The rate of
deforestation is about 350,000 ha/year, which is
equivalent to 3.6% of the present area of forests
and woodlands, whereas reforestation is only at
about 10% of the deforestation rate[19].
The rural areas, which are generally inaccessible
due to the absence of good road networks, have
little access to conventional energy such as
electricity and petroleum products. Petroleum
products such as kerosene and gasoline are
purchased in the rural areas at prices 150% in
excess of their official pump prices. The daily needs
of the rural populace for heat energy are therefore
met almost entirely from fuel wood. The sale of fuel
wood and charcoal is mostly uncontrolled in the
unorganized private sector. The sale of kerosene,
electricity and cooking gas is essentially influenced
and controlled by the Federal Government or its
agencies - the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC) in the case of kerosene and
cooking gas, and the PHCN in the case of
electricity. The policy of the Federal Government
had been to subsidize the pricing of locally
consumed petroleum products, including
electricity. In a bid to make the petroleum
downstream sector more efficient and in an
attempt to stem petroleum product consumption as
a policy focus, the government has reduced and
removed subsidies on various energy resources in
Nigeria. The various policy options have always
engendered price increases of the products[20].
With the restructuring of the power sector and the
imminent privatization of the electricity industry, it
is obvious that for logistic and economic reasons
especially in the privatized power sector, rural
areas that are remote from the grid and/or have
low consumption or low power purchase potential
will not be attractive to private power investors.
Such areas may remain unserved into the distant
future[21].
Meanwhile, electricity is required for such basic
developmental services as pipe borne water, health
care, telecommunications, and quality education.
The poverty eradication and Universal Basic
Education programs require energy for success.
The absence of reliable energy supply has not only
left the rural populace socially backward, but has
also left their economic potentials untapped.
Fortunately, Nigeria is blessed with abundant
renewable energy resources such as solar, wind,
biomass, and small hydropower potentials. The
logical solution is increased penetration of
renewables into the energy supply mix[15].

Energy consumption pattern in Nigeria

Energy consumption patterns in the world today
shows that Nigeria and indeed African countries
have the lowest rates of consumption. Nevertheless,
Nigeria suffers from an inadequate supply of usable
energy due to the rapidly increasing demand, which
is typical of a developing economy. Paradoxically,
the country is potentially endowed with sustainable
energy resources. Nigeria is rich in conventional
energy resources, which include oil, national gas,
lignite, and coal. It is also well endowed with
renewable energy sources such as wood, solar,
hydropower, and wind[17].
The patterns of energy usage in Nigeria's economy
can be divided into industrial, transport,
commercial, agricultural, and household
sectors[22]. The household sector accounts for the
largest share of energy usage in the country - about
65%. This is largely due to the low level of
development in all the other sectors.
The major energy-consuming activities in Nigeria's
households are cooking, lighting, and use of
electrical appliances. Cooking accounts for a
staggering 91% of household energy consumption,
lighting uses up to 6%, and the remaining 3% can
be attributed to the use of basic electrical
appliances such as televisions and pressing
irons[9].
The predominant energy resources for domestic
and commercial uses in Nigeria are fuel wood,
charcoal, kerosene, cooking gas and electricity[20].
Other sources, though less common, are sawdust,
agricultural crop residues of corn stalk, cassava
sticks, and, in extreme cases, cow dung. In Nigeria,
among the urban dwellers, kerosene and gas are
the major cooking fuels. The majority of the people
rely on kerosene stoves for domestic cooking, while
only a few use gas and electric cookers[23].
The rural areas have little access to conventional
energy such as electricity and petroleum products
due to the absence of good road networks.
Petroleum products such as kerosene and gasoline
are purchased in the rural areas at prices very high
in excess of their official pump prices. The rural
population, whose needs are often basic, therefore
depends to a large extent on fuel wood as a major
traditional source of fuel. It has been estimated that
about 86% of rural households in Nigeria depend
on fuel wood as their source of energy[24]. A fuel
wood supply/demand imbalance in some parts of
the country is now a real threat to the energy
security of the rural communities[22].
The energy consumption per capita in Nigeria is
very small - about one-sixth of the energy
consumed in developed countries. This is directly
linked to the level of poverty in the country. Gross
domestic product (GDP) and per capita income are
indices that are used to measure the economic well-
being of a country and its people[25]. GDP is
defined as the total market value of all final goods
and services produced within a given country in a
given period of time (usually a calendar year). The
per capita income refers to how much each
individual receives, in monetary terms, of the
yearly income that is generated in his/her country
through productive activities. That is what each
citizen would receive if the yearly income generated
by a country from its productive activities were
divided equally between everyone.

Current electricity situation in Nigeria

The electricity system in Nigeria centers on PHCN,
which accounts for about 98% of the total
electricity generation[26]. Power generation by
other agencies such as the Nigerian Electricity
Supply Company relies on thermal power for
electricity generation unlike PHCN, which relies on
both hydro- and thermal power. However,
electricity is also a consumer of fuel and energy
such as fuel oil, natural gas, and diesel oil. The
importance of these sources of energy and fuel for
generating electricity has been decreasing in recent
years. However, hydropower that is relatively
cheaper than these sources has grown to be more
important than other sources[27]. However, more
recently, the Power Authority has generated
electricity through a mix of both thermal and hydro
systems. All the power, distribution, and
substations are specially interlinked by a
transmission network popularly known as the
national grid. The entire electricity generated
nationwide is pooled into the National Control
Centre, Osogbo, from where electricity is
distributed to all parts of Nigeria.
The national electricity grid presently consists of 14
generating stations (3 hydro and 11 thermal) with a
total installed capacity of about 8,039 MW as
shown in Table2. The transmission network is
made up of 5,000 km of 330-kV lines, 6,000 km of
132-kV lines, 23 of 330/132-kV substations, with a
combined capacity of 6,000 or 4,600 MVA at a
utilization factor of 80%. In turn, the 91 of 132/33-
kV substations have a combined capacity of 7,800
or 5,800 MVA at a utilization factor of 75%. The
distribution sector is comprised of 23,753 km of 33-
kV lines, 19,226 km of 11-kV lines, and 679 of
33/11-kV substations. There are also 1,790
distribution transformers and 680 injection
substations[28]. Table2 shows a summary of the
generation capabilities of PHCN power stations as
operated in the year 2008 (January to December)
[29].

Table 2 Summary of generation

capabilities of PHCN power stations as
operated in 2008 (January to December)

As it can be seen in Table2, the existing plants

operate at far below their installed capacity as
many of them have units that need to be
rehabilitated, retrofitted, and upgraded[31]. The
percentage of generation capability from hydro
turbines is 34.89%; from gas turbine, 35.27%; and
from steam turbines, 29.84%. The relative
contribution of the hydropower stations to the total
electricity generation (megawatt per hour) is
greater than that of the thermal power stations.
In terms of the consumption of electricity, a
classification into three groups has been proposed
(industrial, residential, and street light
consumption). In 1970, the total electricity
consumption stood at 145.3 MW/h; this increased
to about 536.9 MW/h in 1980. However, in 2005,
the total electricity consumption had increased to
1,873.1 MW/h[32]. On the generation side, these
values of 176.6 MW/h in 1970 increased to 815.1
MW/h in 1980. By the end of 2005, the achieved
total electricity generation was 2,997.3 MW/h[32].
Comparing the per capita power generation to that
of other countries, Nigeria has the lowest among
the countries, as shown in Table3, while the USA
has the highest per capita electricity generation.

Table 3 Country statistics of electricity

generation and per capita consumption

In spite of the contribution of electricity to the total

gross domestic product, it is evident that Nigeria is
facing several problems. The incapacity of the
electricity subsector to efficiently meet the demand
for electricity in the country has been caused by a
number of problems, which have been detrimental
to economic growth. The Central Bank of
Nigeria[26] has identified nine problems associated
with the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA)
(now PHCN):
1. Lack of preventive and routine maintenance
of NEPA's facilities, resulting in huge energy
losses.
2. Frequent major breakdowns, arising from
the use of outdated and heavily overloaded
equipment.
3. Lack of coordination between town planning
authorities and PHCN, resulting in poor
overall power system planning and
overloading of PHCN equipment.
4. Inadequate generation due to
operational/technical problems arising from
machine breakdown, low gas pressure, and
low water levels.
5. Poor funding of the organization.
 6. Inadequate budgetary provision and undue
delay in release of funds to PHCN.
7. PHCN's inefficient billing and collection
system.
8. High indebtedness to PHCN by both public
and private consumers who are reluctant to
pay for electricity consumed when due.
9. Vandalizing and pilfering of PHCN
equipment.
In addition to these, most of the existing electricity
plants in Nigeria are underutilized or not
functioning at all. Numerous reasons could be
sighted as responsible for the underutilization of
these plants. Some of which are (1) scarcity of
relevant manpower for adequate maintenance and
general consumer indiscipline; (2) lack of essential
spare parts for maintenance of the plants; (3)
absence of local manufacturing capabilities;(4) lack
of systematic studies of distribution networks to
reduce the extraordinary losses that usually
accompany haphazard system expansion; and (5)
inability to convert gas flares to a source of
electricity[33].
The inefficiency as well as the inadequate facilities
to boost electricity supply also have been major
causes of the increasing gap between the demand
and the supply of electricity. This could be due to
the fact that there are only 14 generating stations in
Nigeria (3 hydro and 11 thermal stations). Out of
the approximated 8,039 MW of installed capacity
in Nigeria, not more than 4,500 MW is ever
produced. This is due to poor maintenance,
fluctuation in water levels powering the hydro
plants, and the loss of electricity in transmission. It
could also be due to the 80-MW export of
electricity each to the republic of Niger and Benin.
‘Apart from serving as a pillar of wealth creation in
Nigeria, electricity is also the nucleus of operations
and subsequently the engine of growth for all
sectors of the economy’[34]. It has been indirectly
re-echoed that electricity consumption is positively
related to economic growth and that the former is a
causal factor of the latter. This means that
electricity consumption has diverse impacts on a
range of socioeconomic activities and
consequentially the living standards of Nigerians.
Notwithstanding the above pitfalls that had
rendered public electricity supply in Nigeria
unreliable and inefficient, the trend of its utilization
has grown significantly over the past years. Figure1
shows the total electricity consumption in
megawatts per hour and the various sectorial
decompositions. Electricity utilization by the
industrial sector has been fairly static because of
the unreliable nature of the public electricity supply
system in the country. Thus, many companies have
resolved to provide their own power-generating
sets as sources of electricity, leading to huge
transfer costs on their products and services.

Figure 1

Electricity consumption pattern in Nigeria.

Adapted from CBN[35].

Studies and experiences have shown that power

generation in the country has been dismal and
unable to compare with what has been obtained in
smaller African countries. Manufacturers
Association of Nigeria (MAN) gave the following
performance indicators in Table4 for Nigeria's
electricity sector compared with those of some
other countries[28]. The data for some Southern
Africa Development Community (SADC) countries
such as Botswana and South Africa are comparable
to those of the USA and France. The performance
of the Nigerian power sector on the International
Best Practices comparative rating is disgraceful.
Perhaps, no other sector feels it as much as the
manufacturing industrial sector wherein some
notable international companies and organizations
are on self-generated electricity 24 h/day for the
365 days of each year, as confirmed by the United
Nations Industrial Development Organization in
2009[36]. The survey showed that, on average,
manufacturers generated about 72% of the total
power required to run their factories.

Table 4 Power supply reliability indices

(international best practices)

The Nigerian energy challenge

Nigeria's energy need is on the increase, and its
increasing population is not adequately considered
in the energy development program. The present
urban-centered energy policy is deplorable, as cases
of rural and sub-rural energy demand and supply
do not reach the center stage of the country's
energy development policy. People in rural areas
depend on burning wood and traditional biomass
for their energy needs, causing great deforestation,
emitting greenhouse gases, and polluting the
environment, thus creating global warming and
environmental concerns. The main task has been to
supply energy to the cities and various places of
industrialization, thereby creating an energy
imbalance within the country's socioeconomic and
political landscapes. Comparing the present and
ever increasing population with the total capacity of
the available power stations reveals that Nigeria is
not able to meet the energy needs of the people.
The rural dwellers still lack electric power[37].
The nature of Nigeria's energy crises can be
characterized by two key factors. The first concerns
the recurrent severe shortages of the petroleum
product market of which kerosene and diesel are
the most prominent. Nigeria has five domestic
refineries owned by the government with a capacity
to process 450,000 barrels of oil per day, yet
imports constitute more than 75% of petroleum
product requirements. The state-owned refineries
have hardly operated above a 40% capacity
utilization rate for any extended period of time in
the past two decades. The gasoline market is much
better supplied than kerosene and diesel because of
its higher political profile. This factor explains why
the government has embarked on large import
volumes to remedy domestic shortages of the
product. According to the Minister for Energy, the
subsidy to support the imports of gasoline alone
will be in the range of 700 to 800 billion naira in
2008[38]. The weaker political pressures exerted
by the consumers of kerosene (the poor and low
middle class) and diesel (industrial sector) on the
government and the constraints on public financing
of large-scale imports of these products, as in the
case of gasoline, largely explain their more severe
and persistent market shortages[39].
The second dimension of Nigeria's energy crises is
exemplified by such indicators as electricity
blackouts, brownouts, and pervasive reliance on
self-generated electricity. This development has
occurred despite abundant energy resources in
Nigeria. The electricity market, dominated on the
supply side by the state-owned PHCN, formerly
called NEPA, has been incapable of providing
minimum acceptable international standards of
electricity service reliability, accessibility, and
availability for the past three decades[40]. The
nature of this poor record in electricity supply is
apparent in the trend in transmission and
distribution losses shown in Figure2. The double-
digit transmission and distribution losses are
extremely large by international standards and are
among the highest in the world. The system losses
are five to six times higher than those in well-run
power systems. The high level of power losses and
the significant illegal access to the public power
supply are indicative of the crisis in the industry.

Figure 2

Indicators of the electricity crisis in Nigeria

from 1970 to 2004. Adapted from Iwayemi[38].

Though the peak electricity demand has been less

than half of the installed capacity in the past
decade, load shedding occurs regularly. Power
outages in the manufacturing sector provide
another dimension to the crisis. In 2004, the major
manufacturing firms experienced 316 outages. This
increased by 26% in 2005, followed by an explosive
43% increase between 2006 and 2007. Though no
published data exist, the near collapse of the
generating system to far below 2,000 MW for
prolonged periods of time suggests a reason for the
number of outages in 2008 to be very high. This
poor service delivery has rendered public supply a
standby source as many consumers who cannot
afford irregular and poor quality service substitute
more expensive captive supply alternatives to
minimize the negative consequences of power
supply interruptions on their production activities
and profitability. An estimated 20% of the
investment into industrial projects is allocated to
alternative sources of electricity supply[3].
In summary, the causal factors in Nigeria's energy
crisis include the following:
Prevalence of a regime of price control.
Weak concern for cost recovery and lack of
adequate economic incentives to induce the state-
owned companies (NNPC and PHCN) to engage in
efficient production and investment behavior. This
seems apparent in the existence of large input and
output subsidies.
Multiplicity of economic and noneconomic
objectives without proper identification of the
trade-offs among these different objectives. This is
implicit in its pricing policies in both electricity and
petroleum products markets.
Institutional and governance failures which
induced gross distortions and inefficiency in
production, investment choices and high costs of
operation, low return on investment, and expensive
delays along with cost overruns in the state energy
enterprises.

Energy demand projection

There is an increasing demand for fuel energy due
to the increase in economic development and
civilization all over the world. Industry is one of the
most important energy-consuming sectors in the
world. According to Mitchel[41], energy is essential
to our way of life. It provides us with comfort,
transportation, and the ability to produce food and
material goods. Historically, energy consumption
has been directly related to the gross national
product, which is a measure of the market value of
the total national output of goods and services[42].
According to Sambo et al.[43], population is a
major driver of energy demand, while its most
important determinant is the level of economic
activity and its structure measured by the total
gross domestic product (GDP) alongside the
various sectors and sub-sectors of the economy.
Population projection of Nigeria was expected to
grow from 115.22 million in 2000 to 281.81 million
by 2030 at an average annual rate of 2.86%
between 2000 and 2030.
Based on the models developed by the ECN, the
country's energy demand was analyzed for the
period from 2000 to 2030 with the use of the
Model for the Analysis of the Energy Demand
(MAED) and the Wien Automatic System Planning
(WASP) package (Table5). It can be said that the
energy demand of Nigeria will be approximately
2.5-, 3-, 3.5-, and 4.5-fold between the years 2000
and 2015 and approximately 8-, 13-, 17-, and 22.5-
fold between the years 2000 and 2030 based on a
7% (reference), 10% (high growth), 11.5%
(optimistic), and 13% (optimistic) GDP growth rate
per annum, respectively. This increase in the
energy demand is due to the high level of economic
activities expected in Nigeria as measured by the
total GDP.

Table 5 Total projected energy demand

(MTOE)

The trends of the projected energy demand are

shown in Figure3. In 2005, the total energy
demand based on a 10% GDP growth rate revealed
that the household segment had the largest share of
all the sectors. The sectorial energy demands in the
2030 plan period, however, showed the highest
growth rates for the industrial, followed by the
services, household, and transport sectors in that
order (Table6). The electricity demand (extracted
from the total energy demand) shows an increasing
trend from the base year 2005 to 2030 in the four
adopted growth scenarios, respectively, as shown in
Figure4, indicating a high economic growth rate
leading to a substantial increase in the electricity
demand. The energy consumed over the years
shows a decreasing trend with an increasing
population, necessitating a corresponding increase
in the energy output. Hence, the country's large
energy efficiency potential needs to be exploited
(Table7). In 2007, the total primary energy
consumed was 11.4 million tons of oil equivalent
(MTOE) with petroleum products having the
largest share of 67.3% of the total consumption,
amounting to a total average consumption of 78.7%
between 2002 and 2007. This level of consumption
was followed by that of hydropower at 23.9%,
natural gas at 8.7%, and coal at 0.05% with their
respective total average consumption standing at
16.08%, 5.17%, and 0.04% for the period from
2002 to 2007 as shown in Table8. Flaring adversely
reduced the maximum contribution of natural gas
to the total energy consumption mix in spite of its
abundance in the country as most of the oil fields
lack appropriate infrastructure for gas production.
The general Niger Delta security issue (bunkering,
sabotage, etc.) have also weakened most of the oil
and gas projects[45].

Figure 3

Graph showing the projected electricity

demand between 2000 and 2030.

Table 6 Total energy demand based on a

10 % GDP growth rate (MTOE)

Figure 4

Graph showing the projected electricity

demand between 2005 and 2030.
 Table 7 Per capita primary energy
consumption in Nigeria

Table 8 Commercial primary energy

consumption by type (average percentage
of total)

Throughout the world, electricity is the most widely

used and desirable form of energy. It is a basic
requirement for economic development, national
development, meeting the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), and for an adequate
standard of living. As a country's population grows
and its economy expands, its demand for electrical
energy multiplies. If this demand is not met
adequately, a shortage in supply occurs. This
shortage can assume crisis proportions and
possibly affect achieving sustainable energy
development.
The electric power capacity demand by projection
in Nigeria would be approximately 3.5-fold
between 2010 and 2020 and 7.5-fold between 2010
and 2030, respectively, at a growth rate of 7%,
while the projected supply by fuel mix shows a
similar trend with the demand at both growth rates
of 7% and 13% (Table9). There is a wide disparity in
the energy demand to the supply ratio in Nigeria
both in the present and the future. This necessitates
an urgent need for alternative energy sources and
efficient energy usage in order to avert looming
energy crises.
 Table 9 Electric power capacity in Nigeria

These projections for continued rapid energy

growth imply some severe problems for the future
resource depletion, energy degradation, associated
environmental problems, fuel shortage, etc. Indeed,
many of these problems are already happening;
thus, energy conservation is concerned with ways
to reduce energy demand, but yet achieve the same
objective as before.
To achieve its objective of sustainable development,
Nigeria needs to substantially increase the supply
of modern affordable energy services to all its
citizens while, at the same time, maintaining
environmental integrity and social cohesion. In
addition, a robust mix of energy sources (fossil and
renewable), combined with an improved end-use
efficiency, will almost certainly be required to meet
the growing demand for energy services in the
country. Technological development, decentralized
non-grid networks, diversity of energy-supply
systems, and affordable energy services are
imperative to meeting the future demand.

The role of renewable energy technologies in

sustainable development
Renewable energy has an important role to play in
meeting the future energy needs in both rural and
urban areas[50]. The development and utilization
of renewable energy should be given a high priority,
especially in the light of increased awareness of the
adverse environmental impacts of fossil-based
generation. The need for sustainable energy is
rapidly increasing in the world. A widespread use of
renewable energy is important for achieving
sustainability in the energy sectors in both
developing and industrialized countries.
Nigeria is blessed with a large amount of renewable
natural resources (Table1), which, when fully
developed and utilized, will lead to poverty
reduction and sustainable development.
Renewable energy resources and technologies are a
key component of sustainable development for the
following primary reasons:
They generally cause less environmental impact
than other energy sources. The implementation of
renewable energy technologies will help to address
the environmental concerns that emerged due to
greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide
(CO2), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), oxides of sulfur
(SOx), and particulate matters as a result of power
generation from oil, natural gas, and coal. A variety
of renewable energy resources provide a flexible
array of options for their use.
They cannot be depleted. If used carefully in
appropriate applications, renewable energy
resources can provide a reliable and sustainable
supply of energy almost indefinitely. In contrast,
fossil fuel resources are diminished by extraction
and consumption.
They favor system decentralization and local
solutions that are somewhat independent of the
national network, thus enhancing the flexibility of
the system and providing economic benefits to
small isolated populations.
To seize the opportunities presented by renewable
energy resources in sustainable development,
Nigeria needs to establish renewable energy
markets and gradually develop experience with
renewable energy technologies. The barriers and
constraints to the diffusion of renewable energy
should be overcome. A legal, administrative, and
financing infrastructure should be established to
facilitate planning and application of renewable
energy projects. Government must play a useful
role in promoting renewable energy technologies by
initiating surveys and studies to establish their
potential in both urban and rural areas.
Because renewable energies are constantly being
replenished from natural resources, they have
security of supply, unlike fossil fuels, which are
negotiated on the international market and subject
to international competition, sometimes even
resulting in wars and shortages. They have
important advantages, which could be stated as
follows:
Their rate of use does not affect their availability in
the future; thus, they are inexhaustible.
The resources are generally well distributed all over
the world, even though wide spatial and temporal
variations occur. Thus, all regions of the world have
reasonable access to one or more forms of
renewable energy supply.
They are clean and pollution-free and are therefore
a sustainable natural form of energy.
They can be cheaply and continuously harvested
and are therefore a sustainable source of energy.
Unlike the nuclear and fossil fuels plants which
belong to big companies, governments, or state-
owned enterprises, renewable energy can be set up
in small units and is therefore suitable for
community management and ownership. In this
way, the returns from renewable energy projects
can be kept in the community. In Nigeria, this has
particular relevance since the electricity grid does
not extend to remote areas, and it is prohibitively
expensive to do so. This presents a unique
opportunity to construct power plants closer to
where they are actually needed. In this way, much
needed income, skill transfer, and manufacturing
opportunities for small businesses would be
injected into rural communities.

Energy and sustainable development in Nigeria

Sustainable energy involves the provision of energy
services in a sustainable manner, which in turn
necessitates that energy services be provided for all
people in ways that, now and in the future, are
sufficient to provide the basic necessities,
affordable, not detrimental to the environment, and
acceptable to communities and people[51–53].
Linkages between sustainable energy and factors
such as efficiency and economic growth have been
investigated[54].
The energy sector plays a pivotal role in attempts to
achieve sustainable development, balancing
economic and social developments with
environmental protection (encapsulated in the
‘strap line’ for the 2002 Johannesburg World
Summit on Sustainable Development of ‘people,
planet, and prosperity’). Energy is central to
practically all aspects of sustainable development.
Energy is central to the economy because it drives
all economic activities. This characterization of
energy directs our attention to its sources in nature,
to activities that convert and reconvert this energy,
and finally to activities that use the energy to
produce goods and services and household
consumption. Traditionally, energy is treated as an
intermediate input in the production process. This
treatment of energy's role understates its
importance and contribution to development. All
economic activities and processes require some
form of energy. This effectively makes energy a
critical primary factor of production. Given the
state of technological advancement in the economy,
capital and labor perform supporting roles in
converting, directing, and amplifying energy to
produce goods and services needed for growth and
poverty reduction[3].
Energy services are essential ingredients of all three
pillars of sustainable development - economic,
social, and environmental. Economies that have
replaced human and animal labor with more
convenient and efficient sources of energy and
technology are also the ones that have grown
fastest. No country in modern times has succeeded
in substantially reducing poverty without
adequately increasing the provision and use of
energy to make material progress[55]. Indeed, by
not ensuring a minimum access to energy services
for a broad segment of the population, economic
development of developing countries such as
Nigeria beyond the level of subsistence has proven
to be a real challenge.
At the national level, energy propels economic
development by serving as the launch pad for
industrial growth and, via transport and
communications, providing access to international
markets and trade. Reliable, efficient, and
competitively priced energy supplies also attract
foreign investment - a very important factor in
boosting economic growth in recent times. At the
local level, energy facilitates economic development
by improving productivity and enabling local
income generation through improved agricultural
development (irrigation, crop processing, storage,
and transport to market) and through non-farm
employment, including micro-enterprise
development. As an indicator of local recognition of
the importance of energy for businesses, Nigerian
manufacturers, who were asked to rank the
constraints on their firms' activities, identified
power breakdowns, and voltage fluctuations as
their top two problems[46]. Recent developments
in Ghana's energy sector support this point[56].
Energy has also strong and important links to the
environment. Many energy sources are drawn
directly from the environment, requiring a sound
management for these sources to be sustainable.
Furthermore, energy use affects the environment.
Emissions from fossil fuels, for example, reach
beyond the local and national levels to affect the
global environment and contribute to climate
change. The poorest people often live in the most
ecologically sensitive and vulnerable physical
locations. These areas may be the most affected by
the predictable effects of climate change such as an
increased frequency of extreme events, for example
floods, drought, rising sea levels, and melting ice
caps. The risks facing poor people are often
increased by the unsustainable use of biomass
resources[3].
The connection between energy, the environment,
and sustainable development is worth highlighting.
Energy supply and use are related to climate
change as well as such environmental concerns as
air pollution, ozone depletion, forest destruction,
and emissions of radioactive substances. These
issues must be addressed if society is to develop
while maintaining a healthy and clean
environment. Ideally, a society seeking sustainable
development should use only energy resources
which have no environmental impact. However,
since all energy resources lead to some
environmental impact, an improved efficiency and
environmental stewardship can help overcome
many of the concerns regarding the limitations
imposed on sustainable development by
environmental emissions and their negative
impacts[55].
Energy is directly linked to the broader concept of
sustainability and affects most of civilization. That
is particularly evident since energy resources drive
much if not most of the world's economic activity,
in virtually all economic sectors. Also, energy
resources, whether carbon-based or renewable, are
obtained from the environment, and wastes from
energy processes (production, transport, storage,
utilization) are typically released to the
environment. Given the intimate ties between
energy and the key components of sustainable
development, the attainment of energy
sustainability is being increasingly recognized as a
critical aspect of achieving sustainable
development[55].
Use of renewable natural resources, combined with
efficient supply and use of fossil fuels with cleaner
technologies, can help reduce the environmental
effects of energy use and help Nigeria replacing the
existing, inefficient fossil fuel technologies that
pollute the environment.
As a complementary measure, careful management
of energy resources is important to promote
economic growth, protect ecosystems and provide
sustainable natural resources.
Thus, energy sustainability is considered to involve
the sustainable use of energy in the overall energy
system. This system includes processes and
technologies for the harvesting of energy sources,
their conversion to useful energy forms, to provide
energy services such as operating communications
systems, lighting buildings, and cooking[57].
The reform of the energy sector is critical to
sustainable development in Nigeria. This includes
reviewing and reforming subsidies, establishing
credible regulatory frameworks, developing policy
environments through regulatory interventions,
and creating market-based approaches such as
emission trading[58]. Globally, countries are
developing strategies and policies to enable a
sustainable development of their energy resources,
thus contributing to fuel economic and social
developments, while reducing air pollution and
greenhouse gas emissions.
The energy sector is very strategic to the
development of the Nigerian economy. In addition
to its macroeconomic importance, it has major
roles to play in reducing poverty, improving
productivity, and enhancing the general quality of
life. If Nigeria is to take the path of sustainable
energy, it is important to accurately and technically
model the energy demand and supply scenarios
and their impacts on the economy, resources, and
society along with the environment, for both
medium and long terms. From such analyses, we
can derive information that is vital for policy
construction and investment[59].

Energy efficiency and energy conservation in

sustainable development
Energy efficiency means an improvement in
practices and products that reduce the energy
necessary to provide services. Energy efficiency
products essentially help to do more work with less
energy[60]. Energy efficiency is also defined as
essentially using less energy to provide the same
service[55]. In this sense, energy efficiency can also
be thought of as a supply of resource - often
considered an important, cost-effective supply
option. Investment into energy efficiency can
provide additional economic value by preserving
the resource base (especially combined with
pollution prevention technologies) and mitigating
environmental problems.
Energy efficiency (EE) improvements have multiple
advantages, such as the efficient exploitation of
natural resources, the reduction in air pollution
levels, and lower spending by the consumers on
energy-related expenditure. Investments in EE
result in long-term benefits, such as reduced energy
consumption, local environmental enhancement,
and overall economic development. Energy use has
environmental impacts, regardless of the source or
mechanism. For example, hydroelectric projects
affect their local ecological systems and displace
long-standing social systems. Fossil fuel power
creates pollution in the extraction, transportation,
and combustion of its raw materials. The long-term
storage of waste products of the nuclear power
industry is an issue to be resolved. Cost-effective
energy efficiency is the ultimate multiple pollutant
reduction strategy[61].
In Nigeria, a lot of energy is wasted because
households, public and private offices, as well as
industries use more energy than is actually
necessary to fulfill their needs. One of the reasons
is that they use outdated and inefficient equipment
and production processes. Unwholesome practices
also lead to energy wastage.
In Nigeria, the need for energy is exceeding its
supply. In view of these circumstances, primary
energy conservation, rationalization, and efficient
use are immediate needs. Getting all the possible
energy from the fuel into the working fluid is the
goal of efficient equipment operations. This leads to
a higher productivity and saves not only money, but
also influences the safety and life of the equipment
and reduces pollution[62]. Steps taken to minimize
energy consumption, or to use the energy more
effectively, are steps in the right direction to
preserve the global environment. Energy
conservation measures or recommendations are
often referred to more positively as opportunities.
Two primary criteria for applying energy
conservation are that it is easy to implement and
that its payback is brief. Ease of implementation
and duration of payback period have been used to
classify Energy conservation opportunities into
three general categories for use: in maintenance
and operation measures, in process improvement
projects, and in large capital projects[61].
Energy conservation and energy efficiency are
separate but related concepts. Energy efficiency is
achieved when energy intensity in a specific
product, process, or area of production or
consumption is reduced without affecting output,
consumption, or comfort levels. Promotion of
energy efficiency will contribute to energy
conservation and is therefore an integral part of
energy conservation promotional policies[63].
Energy efficiency encompasses conserving a scarce
resource; improving the technical efficiency of
energy conversion, generation, transmission and
end-use devices; substituting more expensive fuels
with cheaper ones; and reducing or reversing the
negative impact of energy production and
consumption activities on the environment. Energy
conservation is a tangible resource by itself that
competes economically with contemporary energy
supply options. In addition to this, it offers a
practical means of achieving four goals that should
be of high priority in any nation that desires quick
and sustainable economic growth and
development. These are economic competitiveness,
utilization of scarce capital for development,
environmental quality, and energy security. It
enhances the international competitiveness of the
industries in the world markets by reducing the
cost of production. It optimizes the use of capital
resources by directing lesser amounts of money in
conservation investment as compared with capital-
intensive energy supply options. It protects the
environment in the short run by reducing pollution
and in the long run by reducing the scope of global
climate change. It strengthens the security of
supply through a lesser demand and a lesser
dependence on petroleum product imports. No
energy supply option may be able to provide all
these benefits. Energy conservation is a
decentralized issue and is largely dependent on
individual, distinct decisions of energy supply,
which are highly centralized. The housewife, the car
driver, the housing developer, the house owner, the
boiler operator in industry, and every other
individual who consumes energy in some form or
another are required to participate in energy-saving
measures. It calls for a collective endeavor and is
dependent upon the actions of people in diverse
fields although the people involved may not be
sufficiently informed or motivated to conserve
energy[64].

Renewable energy and energy efficiency as climate

change mitigation strategies
The Inter-government Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), a body set up in 1988 by the World
Meteorological Organization and the United
Nations Environmental Programme to provide
authoritative information about the climate change
phenomenon, asserts that the warming of the last
100 years was unusual and unlikely to be natural in
origin[58]. The IPCC has attributed the warming of
at least the second half of the century to an increase
in the emission of greenhouse gases into the
atmosphere. Human activity is largely responsible
for the emission of these gases into the atmosphere:
CO2 is produced by the burning of fossil fuels
(coals, oil, gas) as well as by land-use activities such
as deforestation; methane is produced by cattle,
rice agriculture, fossil fuel use, and landfills; and
nitrous oxide is produced by the chemical industry,
cattle feed lots, and agricultural soils. As humans
have increased their levels of production and
consumption, greenhouse gas emissions have also
increased; since 1750, at the time of the industrial
revolution, CO2 emission has increased by 31%,
methane by 15%, and nitrous oxide by 17%.
Moreover, the emissions of these gases continue to
rise steadily[65].
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was
integrated to the Kyoto Protocol as the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change[66]. CDM projects allow investment by
entities from industrialized countries into projects
in developing countries. In return for this
investment, carbon credits (in this case, certified
emission reductions) are received by the investor in
the industrialized country. This enables the
industrialized country to meet its emission
reduction targets given by the Kyoto Protocol more
cost-effectively, while promoting sustainable
development in developing countries. CDM
projects may also be unilateral, i.e., they take place
in the developing country without a project partner
from an industrialized nation.
Investment into clean energy facilities is recognized
as the best way to increase the participation of
Nigerian proponents in the CDM process and hence
the global carbon market. Clean energy investment
is defined as follows: investment into an energy
supply and utilization system that provides the
required energy with minimal negative
environmental and social consequences[67].
Investment into clean energy systems can also be
viewed as an investment into energy sources and
technologies that are significantly less
environmentally damaging than in the status quo
case. Investment into clean energy systems
provides the most effective and optimally efficient
path to an increased CDM participation in Nigeria
and hence an effective participation in the global
carbon market.
The salient characteristics of clean energy
investment are as follows:
The resulting system results in little or no
emissions of obnoxious gases and particulates;
The clean energy technologies have a carbon
footprint that is much lower than the baseline
emission scenario;
The technology is accessible, and the required
investment is available for adoption in developing
countries like Nigeria;
The implementation of the clean energy
technology will contribute to sustainability.
Energy efficiency and renewable energy
technologies are prominent in most sustainable
development programs, for example, the Agenda
21[68]. According to the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change (IPCC), the second assessment
report, the stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse
gas concentrations at levels that will prevent
serious interference with the climate system can
only be achieved by dramatically increasing the
implementation of renewable energy. In one IPCC
scenario, in which greenhouse gases are stabilized
by the year 2050, the share of renewable energy in
the global energy balance must increase tenfold
from the current level. In developing countries, the
required increase is even more dramatic, estimated
at 20-fold between 1990 and 2050. Further
improvements in energy efficiency and energy
conservation can reduce emissions in the shorter
term, thus ‘buying time’ for the required changes in
energy production[69].
Nigeria is one of the highest emitters of greenhouse
gases in Africa. The practice of flaring gas by the oil
companies operating in Nigeria has been a major
means through which greenhouse gases are
released into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide
emissions in this area are among the highest in the
world[70]. Some 45.8 billion kW of heat are
discharged into the atmosphere of the Niger Delta
from flaring 1.8 billion ft3 of gas every day[58]. Gas
flaring has raised temperatures and rendered large
areas uninhabitable. Between 1970 and 1986, a
total of about 125.5 million m3 of gas was produced
in the Niger Delta region, about 102.3 (81.7 %)
million m3 were flared, while only 2.6 million m3
were used as fuel by oil-producing companies and
about 14.6 million m3 were sold to other
consumers[71, 72]. The use of renewable energy
sources will reduce the over dependence on the
burning of fossil fuel. Moreover, instead of flaring
gas in Nigeria, the gases can be converted to
methanol and used as a fuel for both domestic and
industrial use. With good energy efficiency
practices and products, the burning of fossil fuel for
energy will be greatly minimized.
Conclusions
From the energy outlook of Nigeria, it is very clear
that the energy demand is very high and is
increasing geometrically while the supply remains
inadequate, insecure, and irregular and is
decreasing with time; the mix has hitherto been
dominated by fossil resources which are fast being
depleted apart from being environmentally non-
friendly. The energy supply mix must thus be
diversified through installing an appropriate
infrastructure and creating full awareness to
promote and develop the abundant renewable
energy resources present in the country as well as
to enhance the security of supply.
There is clear evidence that Nigeria is blessed with
abundant resources of fossil fuels as well as
renewable energy resources. The major challenge is
an inefficient usage of energy in the country. As a
result, there is an urgent need to encourage the
evolvement of an energy mix that will emphasize
the conservation of petroleum resources in such a
manner enabling their continued exportation for
foreign earnings for as many years as possible.
The opportunities for conserving energy in our
various sectors - office building and residential
areas, manufacturing industries, transportation,
electricity generation and distribution, and
electricity equipment and appliances - were
presented in this work. The various areas where
savings in energy can be made have also been
identified. Several guidelines and measures have
been suggested to conserve energy in these areas,
and if the guidelines and measures are strictly
adhered to, then substantive savings in energy will
be carried out.
In this study, four economic growth scenarios were
dealt with in the review of the energy requirements.
These are the reference scenarios of a 7% total GDP
growth rate that will ensure the MDGs of reducing
poverty by 50% of the 2,000 value by 2015. The
high growth scenario of a 10% GDP growth rate in
the attempt to eradicate poverty by 2030 and the
optimistic scenarios of 11.5% and 13% GDP growth
rates that will further increase the rate of economic
development.
In order to ensure the sustainability of energy
supply and subsequently the sustainable economic
development of the country, the government has to
intensify the further implementation of renewable
energy and energy efficiency programs. As
observed in quite a number of successful countries
promoting renewable energy, such as Germany,
Denmark, and Japan, a strong and long-term
commitment from the government is crucial in
implementing any kind of policies which will lead
to the development of renewable energies, in
particular, and a sustainable development, in
general.

Recommendations
In this study, it is established that renewable
energy and energy efficiency are two components
that should go together to achieve sustainable
development in Nigeria. The need to conserve the
present energy generated in the country using
energy-efficient products and the appropriate
practices is essential for sustainable development.
Therefore, it is recommended that the country
should do the following:
Develop policies on energy efficiency and integrate
them into the current energy policies. A
comprehensive and coherent energy policy is
essential in guiding the citizens towards an efficient
usage of its energy resources.
Promote energy-efficient products and appropriate
practices at the side of the end users and energy
generation.
Create awareness on renewable energy and energy
efficiency.
Establish an agency to promote the use of energy-
efficient products and ensure the appropriate
practices.
Develop and imbibe energy efficiency technologies.
Carry out a resource survey and assessment to
determine the total renewable energy potential in
the country as well as identify the local conditions
and local priorities in various ecological zones.
Establish a testing and standards laboratory for
renewable energy technologies similar to that in
South Africa.
Take advantage of global partnerships, such as the
Residential Energy Efficiency Project initiative of
UK, to assist the country in a creative integration of
renewable energy systems.
Establish a renewable energy funding/financing
agency such as India's Indian Renewable Energy
Agency.
Develop appropriate drivers for the
implementation of energy efficiency policies.
Clean energy facilities should be embraced in the
different sectors of the Nigerian economy.
In the following, a partial list of potential clean
energy opportunities in Nigeria is presented:
More efficient passive and full usage of solar
technologies in the residential, commercial, and
industrial sectors.
Biogas from wastes as a source of cooking fuel in
homes.
Use of energy-efficient lighting.
Implementation of renewable biomass as a fuel in
highly efficient cook stoves.
Efficient production of charcoal as a fuel in homes
and small and medium enterprises.
Use of biofuels in efficient cooking stoves and
lamps in homes.
Energy-efficient lighting.
Use of compressed natural gas (CNG) as a
transport fuel.
Use of biofuels as a transport fuel.
Introduction of a bus rapid transit system to other
cities and expansion of the Lagos system.
Shift from high carbon intensive fuels to natural
gas for energy generation in industries.
Development of a CNG infrastructure to distribute
natural gas to industries located at sites remote
from the existing pipelines.
Implementation of combined heat and power
(CHP) facilities in industries.
Implementation of energy efficiency improvements
in manufacturing industries.
Implementation of CHP facilities in commercial
facilities.
Use of solar and wind energy for irrigation water
pumping and farm electricity supply.
Utilization of agricultural residues for electricity
generation.
Generation of biogas from wastes produced by the
livestock and animal husbandry.
In addition to these, the existing research and
development centers and technology development
institutions should be adequately strengthened to
support the shift towards an increased use of
renewable energy. Human resource development,
critical knowledge, and know-how transfer should
be the focus for project development, project
management, monitoring, and evaluation. The
preparation of standards and codes of practices,
maintenance manuals, life cycle costing, and cost-
benefit analysis tools should be undertaken on
urgent priority.

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Mechanical Engineering Department, Covenant
University, Ota, 2023, Nigeria
Sunday Olayinka Oyedepo

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Correspondence to Sunday Olayinka Oyedepo.

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Cite this article
Oyedepo, S.O. Energy and sustainable development in
Nigeria: the way forward. Energ Sustain Soc 2, 15 (2012).
https://doi.org/10.1186/2192-0567-2-15

Received Accepted Published

01 November 10 July 2012 23 July 2012
2011

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https://doi.org/10.1186/2192-0567-2-15

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Keywords
Sustainable energy Renewable energy

Energy efficiency Energy conservation

Energy, Sustainability and Society

ISSN: 2192-0567

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