In order to reduce the country’s over dependence on oil and gas economy and establish a strong link between the downstream petroleum industry and agricultural activities, the Nigerian government has recently indicated commitment to biofuels production from local feedstock. Emphasis was given to bioethanol and biodiesel with projected annual local market possibility of 5.04 billion and 900 million Liters respectively. The study reports an over view of the biofuels policy and a survey of the public opinions on the potential impacts of its implementation. A questionnaire containing six research questions, covering the key positive and negative impacts of commercial biofuels production was designed in line with the policy objectives. 200 samples were randomly distributed to people with good biofuels education across the country, within 90 days. The recovered questionnaires (PQR = 92.50 %) were treated statistically. Additional respondents’ comments were also captured and analysed. 97.30 % of the respondents expressed optimism in terms of positive impacts such as generation of revenue to the government, investments, jobs creation, energy access to rural areas and environmental sustainability. However, the remaining respondents with percentage cumulative response (PCR) of 2.7 % showed that negative consequences such as food price hike, soil degradation and diversion of food land would be the net result due to high level of corruption, poor technology and lack of transportation network. To achieve the policy objectives, appropriate planning is required. Research covering the views of all stake holders and lessons from prior countries like Brazil and India would be very important. Emphasis should be given to pre-exploited agricultural land and non-food crops that are adaptive to current and foreseeable climatic conditions in Nigeria.

Industrial and anthropogenic activities have resulted in high levels of metallic contaminants in the environment, thus creating imbalance in the biotic and abiotic regimes of the ecosystem. This has remained as a stabbing problem in the mind of environmental and agricultural scientists, since metallic contaminants unlike biodegradable contaminants are persistent in affecting the biophysical population of our environment. This problem requires an insightful assessment before the best remediation option can be selected appropriately. In this paper, we present an overview of chemical speciation and its adaptations in environmental cleanup for achieving result oriented remediation technique.

Four feedstocks comprising two non-edible oils (Telfairia occidentals Hook F, (TVO) and Hura crepitians L (HVO)) and two edible oils Cucumeropsis manii Naud (CSVO) and Canarium schweinfurthii Engl. (CVO) were studied for production of methyl esters (biodiesel). Base catalysis was used for the transesterification reaction with methanol at different oil/alcohol molar ratios (4:1, 6:1 and 9:1). Two catalyst types; KOH and NaOH were used. Reaction times of 5 and 30 mins; temperatures of 38 and 55 o C and a constant catalyst concentration of 1% wt/wt were employed. These process variables were used to achieve optimum biodiesel yields of 97%, (TVO and HVO); 94% and 96% (CSVO) and (CVO) respectively. Their viscosities ranged from 3.60-4.80 mm 2 /s and specific gravities from 0.87-0.88g/cm 3 . The specific gravities and viscosities of the blended biodiesel; B5, B10, B15 ranged from 0.960-0.930g/cm 3 and B20, 1.620-1.650 g/cm 3 , the pour points ranged from -18 to -21. Water and sediments for all the blends were ≤0.05.

Honey foam was prepared using particle (precipitated CaCO 3 ) or molecular (sodium lauryl sulfate) foaming agent. We noted the foam volume and the time it took a foam sample to collapse completely so as to determine the best foaming agent. Foams were prepared by aerating honey in the presence of varying concentrations of the particles or sodium lauryl sulfate. Aqueous foams were similarly prepared for comparison. Sodium lauryl sulfate gave a higher volume of honey foam, which did not collapse completely for more than four months compared with precipitated CaCO 3 particles which gave a smaller foam volume that collapsed completely within four weeks. Aqueous foams prepared from the surfactant, by contrast, collapsed completely within three hours while those prepared from the particles did not collapse within the same timeframe. This shows that the surfactant is a better foaming agent in honey compared with the particles, while the particles are a better foaming agent in water compared with the surfactant.

The phytochemical screening of the root extract of Anthocleista djalonensis were carried out and indicated the presence of saponins, flavonoids, tannins, reducing sugar, steroids, phlobatanins, volatile oils and alkaloids which are active components present in the plant that makes it medicinal. 44.0 g of the powdered plant root extract using hexane gave a yield of 9.6 %, 39.77 g extract using methanol gave a 27.3 % yield, 28.9 g extracted using chloroform gave a yield of 11.2%. The thin layer chromatographic analyses carried out showed that two components separated from the hexane extract, two from chloroform extract, and one from methanol extract using the solvent mixture of ethanol/benzene/chloroform (1:1:3), ethanol/benzene (2:1), ethyl acetate/chloroform /petroleum ether (4:4:3). The anti microbial activity studies carried out showed that the plant extract is an antibacterial agent. It showed sensitivity towards disease causing organisms like Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhill and Staphylococci. This result reveals more on the the use of the plant Anthocleista djalonensis for herbal medicine.

Oxidation of methanol has been studied over a range of temperature and contact times with a synthesised, 1wt % copper catalysts supported over Al2O3 and SiO2. Characterisation of these catalysts was performed by nitrogen adsorption and porosity measurements (BET), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and IR spectroscopy of adsorbed CO. BET measurement revealed surface areas reducing from 105 to 104 m2g-1 for pure alumina to copper supported catalyst while the silica ones reduced from 247 to 240 m2g-1 for pure silica to the copper supported respectively. Pore sizes also reduced from 32 – 23 nm and 23 – 20.3 nm for the alumina and silica catalysts respectively. No crystalline phases from the diffraction patterns of the loaded metals were found to be present on the XRD. CO adsorption studies showed the presence of small cluster metal atoms adsorbed on the surface of the catalysts with Temperature Programmed Reduction (TPR) experiments revealing the presence of partially oxidised and well dispersed Cu atoms. The alumina supported catalyst were more active than the silica ones while for selectivity and yield for formaldehyde, the reverse was the case. The alumina supported significantly showed high yields of Dimethyl ether (DME) while the silica showed high yield for methyl formate (MF) with COx and CH4 detected in very small quantities.

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The presence of heavy metals was analysed from oil samples employing the dry ashing method. The specific densities and viscosities of the spent and virgin AZ oil samples were determined and found to be 0.9230, 0.9501 and 70.27, 73.27cP respectively. Kinetic and thermodynamic studies of the adsorption of lead (Pb) and chromium (Cr) from the spent oil was also investigated. The spent oil samples were digested and mixed with methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK), agitated with activated carbon produced from Thevetia peruviana (bush milk) shells at various contact times of 2, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90 and 120 minutes. Kinetic studies revealed that for lead (Pb), the rate constants were found to be 0.044, 0.060 and 0.067 ppm/min at 27oC, 35 oC and 45 oC, respectively, while higher values or rate constants of 0.126, 0.127 and 0,168 ppm/min were observed at 27 oC, 35 oC and 45 oC, respectively, for chromium (Cr). For the thermodynamic studies the Gibb's free energy (ΔG) values were; –1.29, -1.61 and –1.82 KJmol-1at 27 oC, 35 oC and 45 oC, respectively, indicating spontaneity. However, the Gibb's free energy (ΔG) for chromium showed +0.050, -2.13 and -2.14 KJmol-1at 27 oC, 35 oC and 45 oC, indicating non-spontaneity at 27 oC. The positive values of ΔS for both metals with Pb (21 - 30 Jmol-1) and Cr (695 – 1867 Jmol-1 ) indicated that the metals were dissociatively adsorbed onto the adsorbent while for the E values, Cr (8 – 61 KJmol-1) had a higher than with Pb (6 – 35 KJmol-1) further explaining the non-spontaneity of the process for Cr at some reaction condition.