Air quality impact of diesel back-up generators (BUGs) in Nigeria’s mobile telecommunication base transceiver stations (BTS)

Abstract

Purpose The introduction of mobile telecommunication services in Nigeria led to the development of base transceiver stations (BTS) across the country. Inadequate power supply from the national grid has led to massive use of diesel-fueled back-up generators (BUGs). The purpose of this paper is to attempt to quantify and inform relevant stakeholders about air quality implications of BTS BUGs. Design/methodology/approach Seven major telecommunication network operators were identified. Emission factor approach was used to estimate the quantity of important air pollutants such as NOx, CO, SO2, PM10, PM2.5, PAH and TVOC that are emitted from the use of the BUGs based on fuel consumption rate and generators’ capacity. Fuel-based emission inventory and emission factor from the United States Environmental Protection Agency AP-42 and National Pollution Inventory were used to estimate pollutants emission from diesel-powered generators used in the BTS sites and amount of diesel consumed. Land distribution and per capita dose of the estimated pollutants load were calculated. Findings The study showed that the deployment of BUGs will lead to increase emissions of these air pollutants. The states that are most affected are Lagos, Kano and Oyo, Katsina and Akwa Ibom states with respective total air pollutants contribution of 9,539.61, 9,445.34, 8,276.46, 7,805.14 and 7,220.70 tonnes/yr. Originality/value This study has estimated pollutant emissions from the use of diesel-fueled BUGs in mobile telecommunications BTS sites in Nigeria. The data obtained could assist in policy making.

Comparative Assessment of Some Emitted Pollutants’ Concentrations from Selected Fossil Fuel-fired Generators

“…In addition, the respondents reported ailments such as nasal congestion, fever, headache and cough as the effects of degraded air quality due to emissions from these generators which agreed with the works of [10,11] and [12]. Also, [13] investigated the ambient air implication of the mass utilization of generators at base transceiver stations across Nigeria by evaluating the quantities of pollutants released from these sources. The base transceiver stations of seven communication network operators were considered and fuel-based emission factor method subject to the generators' installed capacity and fuel consumption rate was employed to calculate the amounts of CO, SO 2 , TVOC, NOx, PAH, PM 10 and PM 2.5 released from these generators.…”

Drivers of anthropogenic air emissions in Nigeria - A review

“…World Bank report put their 2012 value as 1.3 MMtCO 2 , 1.2 SO 2 kt, 30.3 ktNO x, 1.2 ktBC and 0.6 ktOC per annum. A more recent report on emission inventory of back-up generators (BUGs) at BTS revealed that annual levels of NO x , CO, SO 2 , PM 10 , PM 2.5 , PAH and TVOC could be as high as 46,542.00–1.22 × 10 5 ; 20,685.34–52,671.53; 21.98–55.24; 3,296.73–8,350.36; 3,232.08–8,350.36; 3.10 × 10 −4 -7.71 × 10 −4 and 6,852.02–17,985.4 tonnes respectively ( Adeniran et al., 2017 ). The deployment of several thousands of diesel generators are clearly avoidable if power supply from the national grid is reliable.…”

“…The small gasoline generator market is believed to be in about 22 million in 2018 and is projected to increase to 30 million by 2030 ( Oseni, 2016 ; Adeniran et al., 2017 ; Dalberg, 2019 ). Dalberg (2019) also reported that about $12 billion was expended on importation, fuelling, repair and maintenance of generators in 2018.…”

Air quality assessment and modelling of pollutants emission from a major cement plant complex in Nigeria

“…Studies have attributed pollutants dispersed from cement production plants to increased morbidity and premature mortality of people living in the nearby receptor locations (Bertoldi et al, 2012;García-Pérez et al, 2015;Koh et al, 2011). A wide range of health challenges ranging from infertility, cancer, respiratory diseases, pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases have been attributed to exposure to PM and gaseous fuel combustion products (Adeniran et al, 2017b;Akintunde et al, 2017;Olatunji et al, 2015).…”