ENERGY EFFICIENCY: A STRATEGY TOWARDS ENERGY USE IN NIGERIA
BY
Engr. AdesolaOluwagbenga OLADEJI
B. Tech., M.ENG., MNIMechE, MNSE,
MNIM, Regd. Engr. (COREN)
A
PAPER PRESENTED TO THE NIGERIAN SOCIETY OF ENGINEERS (NSE), OSOGBO BRACH
Abstract
Energy efficiency improvement is one of the key strategies to
achieving greater sustainability of electricity in the energy sector. This can
be accomplished with ambitious adoption of existing and new energy-efficient
technologies, thereby promoting economic and infrastructural growth in Nigeria.
Policies to promote energy efficiency are very important to
overcome existing market barriers such as high initial investment costs,
incentives, lack of information and ingrained habits of energy consumers and
producers/consumersof manufactured goods.
This paper examines the progress in the field of energy
efficiency in the past years as well as the potential for further energy
efficiency improvements for the coming years with the aim of sustaining our energy
needs.
It also addresses what is
required to enhance and speed up the rate of energy efficiency improvements to
reach its potential levels and benefit the economic growth in Nigeria.
Keywords: Efficiency Improvement, Production Sector, Infrastructure,
Energy-Efficient Technologies and Economic Growth.
Introduction
Energy
is the mainstay of a Nation’s economic growth and development, withelectricity being an important energy component whose
consumption grows most rapidly throughout the world. It serves as an
input into the production of goods and services in the various sectors of
national activities such as the industry, transport, agriculture, health and
education. It alsoserves as an instrument for politics, security and diplomacy.
Worldwide, electricity consumption grew at a rate of
about 3.6 percent per year in the last five years, which is much stronger than
the growth in total energy use [4]. So it is interesting to have a closer look
at the efficiency opportunities in our energy use, to enhance our economic
development.
At present, efficiencies vary widely by country, from about 30
percent for the least efficient countries up to 50 percent for the most
efficient. These mean that 50 to 70 percent of all primary energy is lost
during the generation process. This in turn leaves room for further efficiency
improvement [7].
In the power sector, a wide range of options is available to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including switching to fuels with lower carbon
content, conversion to nuclear or renewables and energy efficiency improvement
[6].
Worldwide, 35 percent of total primary energy supply is used to
produce electricity [4]. Fossil fuels, especially coal and/or natural gas, are
still dominant in most countries with a significant part of the electric power
lost during transmission and distribution. These losses can be divided in
technical and commercial losses. Technical losses are caused by resistance in
power lines and conversion losses in transformers. It varies between 5 and 15
percent of the electricity production [2]. Commercial losses are caused by
theft/illegal tapping, administrative errors, incorrect metering or unpaid
bills.
To achieve energy efficiency in Nigeria, the flaring of natural gas by the
multinational oil companies should cease and efforts to stop gas flaring on the
part of the government should be encouraged. New technologies, such as Heat
Recovery Steam Generators (HRSGs) should be adopted in Power generation to
ensure optimum output from input resources for our infrastructural use.
Nigeria
flares about 75% of her natural gas because of lack of processing facilities
and this account for 20% of flared gas worldwide[2]. The flare-out deadline set
by the Nigerian government by 2008 was unrealistic because government could not
meet up with the financial obligation towards the process hence impairing the
economic growth of the country.
Energy
and Energy Efficiency
Energy
efficiency means improvement in practices and products that reduce the energy
necessary to provide services like lighting, cooling, heating, manufacturing,
cooking, transport, entertainment etc [5].
Energy
efficiency products essentially help to do more work with less energy. Thus,
the efficiency of an appliance or technology is determined by the amount of energy
needed to provide the energy service. There is a
way to increase our activities and yet decrease our energy use – this is called
energy efficiency.
For
instance, to light a room with an incandescent light bulb of 60 W for one hour
requires 60 W/h (that is 60 watts per hour). A compact fluorescent light bulb
would provide the same or better lighting at 11 W and only use 11 W/h. This
means that 49 W (82% of energy) is saved for each hour the light is turned on.
In
Nigeria today, a lot of energy is wasted because industries, power companies,
offices andhouseholds use more energy than is actually necessary to fulfill
their needs. The reason is because they use old and inefficient equipment and
production processes; buildings are poorly designed; and because of bad
practices or habits. With energy efficiency practices and products, the country
can save over 50 % of the present energy consumed in the country [6].
As infrastructure in Nigeria grows, ourenergy demand will
increase. This has been the prevailing trend for many years, but in the future,
we may not necessarily be subject to thislaw. With this ongoing growth in human
activities in mind, we may ask the question: Will it ever be possible to stabilize our energy use? This is
where energy efficiency becomes relevant.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN BUILDINGS AND APPLIANCES
Energy makes buildings comfortable through lighting, heating,
cooling and ventilation. Included in the total energy use of households are
traditional fuels that are predominantly used for cooking in large parts of
Africa and South Asia. These fuels represent 17 percent of the total energy use
of households worldwide [3].
Buildings and appliances are responsible for over one third of
the global primary energy use. In other words, all buildings in the world use
the same amount of primary energy [8]. Many successful policies already exist,
but for insulation of existing buildings, stronger incentives are required. For
most developing countries, Nigeria inclusive, these measures are interesting as
well, since they can be very cost-efficient.
The electricity use grew much faster and there is a wide
variation of individual energy use in households. Some countries show a
declining trend, but for most of the countries, the energy use per capita is
still increasing [9].
Market and Technology Developments
As we strive to develop our economy through the energy sector of
the country, the energy use of the sector is of paramount important.
The development of new technology is indispensible for further efficiency
improvement in the long run. Governments usually stimulate this kind of energy
efficiency innovation by financially supporting Research and Development
(R&D). Energy efficiency R&D
support has increased since 1990, but in recent years there has been a
declining tendency. Note, however, that R&D statistics are not always
complete [9]. A number of energy efficiency technologies are rapidly entering
the market and interesting new technology is the LED-lamp. LED technology
promises even higher efficiencies than compact fluorescent lamps. The most
advanced LED lights produce more than 100 lumen per Watt, while 70 lumen per
Watt is already commercially available. In comparison, the best compact
fluorescent lamps are now producing 60 lumen per Watt and a traditional
incandescent light bulb only 15 lumen per Watt. However, the number of LED
models available is still limited.
Energy efficiency improvement is not the only way to limit the
energy use of total human activity. Two others are:
·
Structural change – shifts
to less energy-intensive activities (e.g. more growth in the service sector
than in heavy industry) will dampen the growth of energy use in relation to
GDP.
·
Modal changes –changes in
the way certain activities are carried out will have the same effect, these
include for example: changing from passenger cars to public.
Methods of Energy
Efficiency Improvement
End-use Efficiency
End-use
efficiency refers to technologies, appliancesor practices that improve energy
efficiency at the level of the final user. It includes electricity-using and
thermal technologies such as motors, lighting, heating, air conditioning [9].
It also includes technologies that help to conserve or better use energy such
as insulation.
End-use
efficiency measures from improving the ability of houses to absorb and retain
heat in winter and keep out heat in the summer to changing individual and
business behavior to include maintenance and repair of industrial production
equipment.
Demand-side Management
This refers to practices or policies
usually implemented by utilities and energy planners that encourage users to
use energy more efficiently or to move their energy use away from peak demands.
The later is known as load shifting. Load shifting allows for more effective
use of generating capacity and can significantly defer the need for building
new generating stations.
Standard and Label (S&L)
Standards and labels (S&L) are
now commonly used in many countries of the world especially the industrialized
countries to promote the efficient use of energy. Energy labels are attached to
electrical appliances to show the accurate energy consumption information on
the products. This information will help the consumers to take decision
on the products, that is whether to buy the product or not. Energy label
provides information on the amount of energy an appliance consumes thus will
help consumers to know the level of the efficiency of the equipment.
Energy Management
Good
energy management can contribute to energy efficiency and it includes:
Ø Ensuring
that spare heat are not vented away but put into use
Ø Lighting
is activated when required
Ø Carrying
out energy audits i.e. measuring and analyzing the amount of energy used by
abuilding or company to ensure that all aspects of energy management are
optimized.
Dispersed Generation
In
Nigeria and in some parts of the world, energy is generated from a central
location and distributed through long distances to other parts of the country.
Energy is lost when transmitted through long distances. Energy losses due to
grid transmission over long distances could be minimized if energy generation
is dispersed. That is energy is generated locally and fed directly into
distribution systems for infrastructural use.
Energy Conservation
The
Infrastructural sector is adversely affected due to our inability to embrace
energy conservation practice. This practice entails reducing the need for
energy particularly electricity to achieve greater overall efficiency. For
example, the use of solar water heater, which helps to capture thermal energy
of the sun in panels and connected to a well, insulated storage tanks. Withthe
solar heater, the use of electricity to heat water will be minimized. Another
exampleof energy conservation practices is the locating work places closer to
public transport orcloser to living areas.
Energy Efficiency in Transportation
An
efficient and well organized public transport would help to conserve the use of
energyin the transport sector. It will cut down the number of cars on the road
thereby reducing congestion and
travel time. If buses were on time, regular and comfortable, more people would
use them.
Passive Designs in Energy
Efficiency Houses
Passive
designs in buildings means making use of nature to reduce energy consumption
and other costs. This involves the correct orientation of buildings and roof
design in other to use natural light during the day. It also involves the use
of overhangs to keep out light during period of high sunlight intensity.
Energy
efficiency designs have other possibilities such that the designs will enhance
natural air flow, use of materials that will minimize heat flow etc.
Retro-fitting Homes and Public
Buildings
The practice of retrofitting homes
and public buildings is now practiced in many parts of the world to reduce
energy consumption. Owning to the fact that many homes and public building have
been built long time ago and are equipped with all kinds of inefficient
appliances, it is now a common thing for owners of home and government to
replace this old equipment with newer and more efficient ones.
Tariffs and Incentives
Tariff
structures can be used to encourage people to use less electricity and defer
the use of appliances to periods when it is in least demand. Varying the rate
of charge according to time of day encourage load-shifting for example the use
of timers to activate appliances prior to peak demand.
Change
in behavior can also help to conserve energy e.g. reducing the temperature in
the washing machine will reduce energy consumption or use of modern appliances.
Energy efficiency habit include turning off appliances when they are not in
use.
Industrial Energy Use
Heavy industry is usually responsible for most
energy consumption inwhich consumption may be ten times higher than consumption
in other areas [1]. With energy efficiency improvement, production processes
could reduce energy consumption. Improvement in efficiency at the point of
electricity generation is possible with recent developments in plant conception
and design.
Benefits of using energy
efficiently
Using
energy more efficiently would:
Ø Reduce
electricity bills.
Ø Leave
more energy available to extend energy supply to all parts of the population.
Ø Increase
the efficiency and resilience of the economy – including reduced reliance on
oil and thus improve balance of payments.
Ø Improve
industries’ competitiveness internationally.
Ø Minimize
the building of new power stations and thus free up capital for
otherinvestments like health and welfare.
Ø Reduce
the negative environmental and human health impacts from energy productionand
use.
Ø It
will increase employment through interventions e.g. in industry, housing,
transport.
Ø It will reduce local air pollution and global climate change.
Ø It will improve the security of energy supply and making
modern energy affordable for the country.
CONCLUSION
Energy efficiency is a component that should
be upheld to achieve sustainable development of our infrastructural sector and
the need to conserve the present energy generated in the country using energy
efficiency products and practices is essential. In the light of these, it is
therefore recommended that policy makers should:
1) develop
policies on energy efficiency and integrate them into current energyPolicies.
2) promote
energy efficiency products and practices at the side of end users and energy
generation.
3) create
awareness on energy efficiency.
4) Strengthen
agency (NERC) to promote the use of energy efficiency products and ensureenergy
efficiency practices.
5) develop
and imbibe energy efficiency technologies; and
6) develop
appropriate drivers for the implementation of energy efficiency policy.
References
1) Brandao L.G.: (1985) Short Rotation
Forestry for Energy and Industry Bioenergy
Elsevier Applied Science Publishers,
London.84 (2):77-85.
2) Nwachukwu,C. N.O. (2007) The National
Integrated Power Project: Energy Resource
Development (NIPP Perspective).
3) Cogeneration & On-site Power Production. The 'best
waste-to energy plant in the world',
waste-to-energy-plant-in-the-world'/, 2008.
5) Graus,W., Klessmann, C., Capone, C., Stricker, E (2008) Role
of Renewable Energy and
Energy Efficiency in Global Energy Scenarios (draft report),
Ecofys, Utrecht,
Netherlands,.
6) Ibitoye, F and Adenikinju, A., (2007) Future Demand for
Electricity in Nigeria. Applied
Energy 84,
492-504.
7) IEA, (2006)Light’s labor’s lost policies for energy-efficient
lighting, International
EnergyAgency(IEA),Paris,France,2006.http://www.iea.org/textbase/nppdf/free/2006/light
2006. pdf.
Japan
(ECCJ): Top Runner Programme,Developing the World’s best Energy Efficient
9) Renewable Energy Focus, March/April
2012, Vol. 13, Issue 2.
10) World Resources Institute, World
Resources 1990-1991: 1992, .A Guide to the
Global
Environment, Oxford University Press,
New York.
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