Renewable Energy in Nigeria: Potentials and Challenges

Abstract

There is a huge renewable potential found in Nigeria which is yet to be explored. The heavy reliance on fossil fuels such as crude oil for its energy production has made it a top contributor to greenhouse gases up to 1.01 % of global emissions. Pertinent efforts have been placed on exploring renewable energy sources given the increased awareness of its sustainability. Furthermore, indicators suggest that crude oil will become a much less significant driver of the energy sector in the coming years. In the light of these issues, this paper presents the potentials that renewable energy has to offer, challenges that could limit its exploitation, and the current status of energy initiatives, including the decade-old renewable energy master plan. Meanwhile, we also discuss the benefits of adopting renewable energy technologies for urban and rural communities. In conclusion, the adverse effect of the exploitation of fossil fuels on the environment, including global warming, glacial meltdown, and acid rain, can be mitigated. Overall, the carbon footprint can be reduced if the potentials are appropriately utilized and converted into an accessible and affordable energy source. Although renewable energy projects have a high initial cost of running over a long life, the cost is small or no compared to conventional sources. The authors recommend the need to explore alternative energy sources that will be environmentally friendly and meet present energy demands.

Analysing the Impact of Human Capital on Renewable Energy Penetration: A Bibliometric Reviews

“…[6] highlighted challenges causing low penetration of renewable energy sources in Nigeria, which is synonymous to the ones of Refs. [3,35]. The challenges include: a lack of adequate understanding and consciousness of the worth of renewable energy technologies, insufficient financial and fiscal inducements, dearth of human capital and infrastructural capacity, inadequacy of renewable energy data for plan implementation and investment decision, intermittency of renewable energy sources, high start-up investment outlays, and insufficient policy and organisational structures.…”

“…According to the authors, renewable energy includes biomass, wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, and solar energy. However, despite the enormous amount of these renewable energy sources in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa, there is much reliance on non-renewable energy sources, primarily fossil fuels, with their attendant consequences [3]. These consequences include the emission of carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming, the production of acidic rainfall that harms vegetation and stationery water bodies, and the release of toxic compounds like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, and benzene, among others.…”

Renewable Energy Transition: A Panacea to the Ravaging Effects of Climate Change in Nigeria

“…According to vulnerability analysis reported by Onah et al (2016) revealed that the northern part of Nigeria is more vulnerable to climate change compared to the southern part due to the nature of the geographical zone which is lying on the Savannah belt. This made the country one of the top contributors to GHG emissions with about 1.01% of the total global emissions (Okonkwo et al, 2021). No doubt, fossil fuel exploitation, and production in Nigeria is seen as a blessing, by putting up economic growth and drove developments of the country relatively from the revenues generated, but can also be seen on the other hand as a curse especially now that the adverse effects of oil spillage and hazardous emissions are impacting negatively on the ecosystem (Kailasam, 2006), leaving behind legacies such as gas flaring, tense climatic conditions with rising heatwaves and reclamation of land due to oil and gas extraction, were unhealthy to the environment.…”

“…The environmental constraint is one of the main factors inhibiting the green growth in Nigerian, which was said to have affected the attainment of else-while country's vision 2020 (Okonkwo et al, 2021). In the northern part of the country the desert encroachment is mainly caused by the combination of rising heat and less rain, loss of the wetlands, and fast reduction in the amount of surface water, flora, and fauna resources on land (Abdulkadir et al, 2018), whereas other coastal areas are battling with rising sea levels and flooding (Coster & Adeoti, 2015).…”

“…Putting Nigeria on the table, where there is an abundance of crude oil and gas, still, the generation and distribution power in Nigeria is barely "epileptic". This is due to the endemic nature of energy poverty in the country and as a result, not one source will quench the energy thirst (Okonkwo et al, 2021), thus the need for a paradigm shift as a plausible route to the energy transition from fossils to renewable (Figure 2). According to African Development Bank (2011), the instability of electricity supply is by far the most binding constraint to ease of doing business in Nigeria.…”