‘Technological advancement critical to energy sufficiency in Nigeria’

Stakeholders, yesterday, said that technological advancement remains key to achieving energy sufficiency in Nigeria amidst global calls for energy transition.

The Executive Secretary of Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), Dr. Bello Aliyu Gusau, stated this during a workshop titled “Agro Waste to Energy: Biodiesel Bedrock of Energy Sufficiency in Nigeria,” by the PTDF Professorial Chair in Renewable Energy at the University of Benin.

Gusau, represented by the agency’s Deputy General Manager of Strategic Planning and Documentation, Mr. Olayinka Agboola, said that the workshop was to expand the frontier of knowledge based on findings of research work.

“Everybody is talking about energy around the world. That is why we have invested a lot of funding in this research work to see how to make use of local materials and available materials for renewable energy,” he said.

This step, the PTDF boss said, became necessary due to the complexity of the energy problem in Nigeria and the need to look at alternative ways of generating energy.

He said that fossil fuel, which had been a source of power for Nigeria, was becoming expensive even though it is available, saying the time has come to harness renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and geothermal among others.

In his keynote address, Prof. Ikuonase Emovon of the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, Delta, said that Nigeria was endowed with various renewable energy resources with the potential to change the narrative of power generation and consumption in the country.

These resources, Emovon said, include biomass, hydropower, solar, and wind, which are negligibly utilised.
Corroborating the keynote speaker on renewable energy sources, Prof. Kessington Obahiagbon, the PTDF Chair of the university, said that biomass fuel was becoming increasingly appealing as a viable alternative for fossil fuels due to rising demand for clean energy, diminishing fuel stocks, and its contribution to lowering reliance on crude oil.