Again, Osinbajo makes case for investment in transition fuels

Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has again argued for investment in transition fuels, especially in developing countries, saying that bans or restricted public investment in fossil fuels, including natural gas, are unacceptable.

According to him, the world should not have to choose between energy poverty and climate change as this can be addressed with both natural gas and Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) as transition fuels alongside other renewable sources.

Osinbajo spoke while delivering his keynote address in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where the World Liquified Petroleum Gas Association (WLPGA) is holding its week-long forum.

Speaking on the theme “Energising Tomorrow” at the Dubai World Trade Centre, Osinbajo acknowledged that all countries have a part to play in the fight against climate change, but emphasised that “a global transition away from carbon- based fuels must account for the economic differences between countries and allow for multiple pathways to net-zero emissions.

“As development finance institutions try to balance climate concerns against the need to spur equitable development and increase energy security, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union have all taken aggressive steps to limit fossil fuel investments in developing and emerging economies.

“The World Bank and other multilateral development banks are being urged by some shareholders to do the same. The African Development Bank, for instance, is increasingly unable to support large natural gas projects in the face of European shareholder pressure,” he stated.

Noting that there are still close to 600 million Africans without access to electricity, Osinbajo observed that, “for developing countries, unlike the rest of the world, the transition to net zero emissions posed two… existential problems.”

Citing Nigeria’s efforts at balancing energy security with environmental sustainability, Osinbajo stated further that the Federal Government has developed an Energy Transition Plan “which shows that achieving net-zero by 2060 will require investments of about $410 billion, above business as usual, and that natural gas will play a critical role in addressing the clean cooking challenge, as well providing grid stability to integrate renewables at scale.”

According to him, “Nigeria has also developed an integrated energy plan with a clean cooking model which shows the clean cooking opportunities across technologies such as electric- cooking and LPG.

“This model shows that there is an opportunity to transition at least five million households to LPG solutions, which will cut emissions by 30% compared to business as usual, reduce other pollutants by 90% or more and avoid 6.9 billion kilogrammes of forest loss from biomass collection.”

The VP added that “LPG remains an ideal fuel to support the journey to renewables, as it is easily stored, does not degrade over time, requires no heating or complex filtration to keep the fuel in a usable condition, and does not constantly boil off.”

He said that for a gas-rich country like Nigeria with over 206 TCF of proven reserves and an additional 600 TCF scope to be proven, “it is evident that what makes the most sense from the point of view of balancing energy security with environmental sustainability is the use of LPG at least as a transition fuel.”

Aside from being an effective transition fuel, the VP asserted that “LPG is set to be part of the destination as it is being used as a precursor for green hydrogen with zero emission,” adding that “an eventual move to bio-LPG will allow countries like Nigeria to keep existing infrastructure in place, capitalize on already existing supply and distribution chains and reach net-zero at far lower cost.