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Coal plant.
(Credit:greenstonegirlpix via Flickr.)
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A member of the National
Assembly, Ibrahim Gobir (APC Sokoto East), on Sunday in Abuja said the nation
could generate 45,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity if it utilized its coal
reserves. He
told the News Agency of Nigeria that if the coal resource in Enugu, Benue and
Kogi were harnessed, power problems in the country would be a thing of the
past.
The
senator, who was speaking on the challenges of Nigeria at 55, said that
challenges in the country could be surmounted if there was a political will to
do so.
“During
those days, we were using coal to generate electricity in Enugu and other
places; today, if we want to generate 45,000MW, we can generate that using
coal.
PREMIUM TIMES report continues:
“In
Enugu axis alone you can generate 30,000MW; in Kogi and Benue, you can produce
about 15,000MW; so, we are talking about 45,000 megawatts from coal alone.
“All
that we have been talking about over the years is to generate 40,000MW but
today, we are just dangling with only 4,000MW; so I think we have to look at
some of our planning,” he said.
Mr.
Gobir, an engineer, added that like the power sector, agriculture had suffered
setback, declining from exports that it was used to.
He
recalled the period of groundnut pyramids, booming rubber export as well as
cocoa export, adding that agriculture did not contribute up to 30 per cent to
the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“If
you look at defence, we have also recorded setbacks because the Nigerian
defence industry was established the same time with that of Brazil, India and
South Korea.
“Today
we are importing armouries from Brazil; we are importing ammunitions from India
and so many other places.
“Our
defence industry has been converted to nylon bag making industry; so I think we
have recorded some very terrible setbacks.
“When
you come to the issue of education, I can say that there has been tremendous
growth but it is growth without development because we don’t have functional
education.
“We
have so many tertiary institutions with no direction; until we face functional
education in this country, we will still be dangling with the same problem,” he
said.
The
senator prayed that the present administration would have the political will to
address all the challenges and harness available opportunities.
He
called for increase in the budget to science and technology sector, stressing
that the sector should get over ₦100 billion rather that the “meagre ₦5 billion
it received in 2015″.
(NAN) |
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Image
source: Wikipedia
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NAIJAGRAPHITTI SUPPLEMENT: The Problems
With Coal
Burning coal to produce
electricity seriously affects air quality, human health, wildlife and climate
change.
• Coal is a major threat
to our climate. Just one 150-megawatt coal-fired power plant can produce more
than a million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year. That's about the
same as 200,000 cars produce.
• Coal-fired power is the
leading source of mercury emissions in North America, which are dangerous to
people, fish and wildlife. Fish may have thousands of times more mercury in
their systems than is found in the surrounding water due to bioaccumulation.
Wildlife species that rely on fish, such as eagles and osprey, also have high
levels of mercury. Mercury is known to affect learning ability and
neuro-development in children.
• Burning coal also
produces large quantities of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate
matter. The Canadian federal government has declared particulate matter to be a
toxic substance because it can cause breathing and respiratory problems,
irritation, inflammation, damage to the lungs, and premature death.
• Sulphur dioxide in the
air can also form into sulphuric acid and mix with rain or snow, creating acid
rain. Acid rain can have drastic ecological impacts on lakes by changing the
water's acidity, making the lakes uninhabitable for fish, plants and animals.
• Concerns about air
pollution have prompted the Ontario government to commit to phasing out coal-fired
electricity plants by 2014.
Coal-Bed Methane
Coal-bed methane (CBM) is
similar in composition to natural gas (i.e., mostly methane), but it is found
in and around coal seams. CBM is now being aggressively
pursued in Canada as traditional supplies dwindle and demand for natural gas
increases. The B.C. government is a strong advocate,
offering significant tax breaks and policies to encourage exploration and
development.
• Because CBM is trapped in rocks deep within the Earth, more work is
needed to get it out, leading to greater environmental damage at the source.
• Large quantities of
water—sometimes more than tens of thousands of litres per day—are first pumped
from the coal seams in order to release the CBM.
Pumping this much water (usually from many wells simultaneously) can deplete
local water supplies. The water, which may be contaminated, must then be
released. Surface disposal is often permitted, which can be harmful because the
water is often laden with salts and chemicals that damage vegetation.
• Pumping the water from
the seams releases the CBM, but there is no guarantee
that it will all be vented up the designated well. CBM can
travel through the coal seam and end up in the atmosphere where it acts as a
powerful greenhouse gas, or can migrate into nearby water wells or houses,
posing health risks to local communities.
Source: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/climate-change/science/energy/coal/
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