Amid the global calls for just energy transition, stakeholders have advanced the reason for the conversion of agro-waste to energy, saying the technological advancements remain key to achieving energy sufficiency in the country.

Executive Secretary, Petroleum Technology Development (PTDF), Dr. Bello 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, who was represented by the Deputy General Manager, Strategic Planning and Documentation in the agency, Mr. Olayinka Agboola, said the workshop was to expand the frontier of knowledge based on findings of research work.

This step, the PTDF boss said, became necessary due to the complexity of the energy problem in the country and the need to look at alternative ways of generating energy. He said fossil fuel, which had been a source of power, was becoming expensive even though it is available.

According to him, time has come to harness renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and geothermal among others.

The Vice-Chancellor, University of Benin, Prof. Lilian Salami, commended PTDF for assisting the universities to fund research. “We are grateful because it is one thing to have intellectual capabilities; it is another to have the assistance that is required to move it forward. If we join both together, society will be better for it,” said Salami, who was represented by her deputy, Prof. Buniyamin Ayinde.

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

These resources, Emovon said included biomass, hydropower, solar and wind, which according to him are negligible utilised. “Renewable energy is the energy derived from natural processes that are replenished constantly such as solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, hydropower, and ocean resources,” Emovon said.

On biodiesel, the don said biofuel utilisation was environment friendly as they emit less carbon and, hence, credit less carbon in global warming Corroborating Emovon, the PTDF Chair Holder of the University, Prof. Kessington Obahiagbon, said 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.