Cooking Gas Usage Will Checkmate Climatic Change, Reduce CO2

THURSDAY, 18 AUGUST 2011 00:00

OLUSOLA BELLO AND IFEANYI MADUAGWU

Stakeholders in the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) subsector of the petroleum industry have advocated the use of the product which they said will help to mitigate climate change effect like flooding, erosion and cases of desertification which are now global issue.

LPG, according to them, emits less CO2 than firewood, charcoal and other traditional fuels and produces low emissions of Hydrocarbons (HCs) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx), which are the principal precursors of ozone.

The use of LPG, which is otherwise known as cooking gas, will do the society a lot of good and also minimise the use of Kerosene thereby reducing any health hazard that could be associated with kerosene consumption.

The commodity forms an important component for sustainable development just as it would stop the felling of tress thereby checking deforestation of the environment.

LPG as a substitute for fuel wood in Nigeria will help improve the domestic and economic activities in such a way that expenses would be less on firewood, charcoal, and kerosene which would better serve the aviation industry. Currently, the LPG is cheaper than kerosene in the country.

It is for this reasons that the Friends of the Environment (FOTE) in collaboration with the Lagos State Environmental Agency (LASEPA) and the LPG Group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) with the support of the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), Small Grants Programme (SGP) are making efforts at creating awareness on the use of the LPG.

According to the initiator of the programme, J.O. Maduka, the groups are trying to popularise the use of cooking gas. She said: "We are popularising the use of cooking gas among our women so that they will stop the use of wood and charcoal, which is very dangerous to their health and leads to death of mother and child."

She also said the use of LPG will help mitigate climate change which has become a disturbing issue now, because the effect of climate change is all over the country.

The campaign, which is in the second year running, has been conducted in some local government areas in Lagos and would soon be taken to all the local governments in the country.

She further said the project is to create awareness among rich and poor Nigerians, urban and rural dwellers, especially women, on the benefit of LPG in their homes.

Despite the abundance of oil and gas and high potential for hydro-electricity, Nigeria still depends to a large extent on traditional energy sources such as fire wood, and crop residue for its domestic energy needs.

A study conducted by FOTE in two communities in Lagos revealed that kerosene is the most popular form of energy service currently used both in urban and rural areas of the state.

It is expected that by 2015 about five million Nigerians would have been using LPGs with the level of awareness being created.

The consumption of the product in the country has declined from over 100,000 tons in the 1980s to less than 60,000 tons in the 1990s and 2000s. This was attributed to LPG scarcity as a result of the breakdown of the country's four refineries.

Currently, availability of LPG has greatly improved since the commencement of supply from the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited with a production capacity of four million tons. If the Nigerian per capita consumption of LPG at 0.5kg gets to the African average of 3.7kg, LPG, demand will increase to over 500,000 tons.

She said: "In Nigeria today, they don't have up to 200 thousand homes using LPG, this is the reason FOTE is creating the awareness that by 2015 according to World Bank, there will be about 5 million users of LPG."

The FOTE, in advocating that the use of LPG services will reduce air pollution going by the fact that firewood and charcoal usage has been linked with incidences of respiratory illness and infant mortality.

This will also lead to reduction in tree cutting, which will help the environment retain its greens, and it will check deforestation which usually leads to desertification.

Attention needs to be paid to the energy needs of women and their well being through the promotion of cleaner and affordable energy services like LPG.

The women folk need cooking energy that is less labour intensive, convenient and safe; thus, alleviating the drudgery of collecting firewood and charcoal far from home.

Source: Business Day