Experts speak on the need to embrace renewable energy
By Ebele Orakpo
Renewable energy and how to improve world’s energy supplies were the focus of the recent World Energy Forum held at the European Union in Brussels last Tuesday.
Delegates from various countries presented papers on the way forward. Addressing the delegates, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of PSC Industries Limited, Dr. Patrick Owelle called on Nigeria’s leaders to follow the lead of President Abdulwaye Wade of Senegal in implementing widespread solar electricity initiatives especially in the Niger-Delta as well as commercial/industrial centres and rural settings, saying“it is time to quit plans and master plans and start implementing.”
He said this is the time for Nigerian Government to demonstrate its commitment to the electorate by providing dividends of democracy with sustainable electricity, especially with the upcoming 50th year independence anniversary celebrations and the elections coming up next year.
“Our country needs a dedicated Ministry of Renewable Energy headed by a cabinet level and experienced minister to develop renewables in Nigeria. We have been blessed with very high solar irradiation levels and there is absolutely no need for this country to continue to be in the dark 50 years after independence,” he said.
In his presentation, the US delegate, Prof. Adam Steinberg noted that the world hit peak oil production in 2007 and fossil reserves are on the decline. To this end, he advised the world to double its renewable energy capacity next year, then add the same amount each year for the next 20 years or more just to keep up with the decline in fossil reserves.
“I beckon the world and our President to rigorously pursue solar and renewables options post-haste. America will have itself to blame in five years, if this is not done and now.
” Steinberg regretted the lack of foresight of ex-President George Bush saying: “If Bush had more foresight and less foreskin, he could have pushed us in the right direction 10 years ago. Instead, he pushed in the housing bubble, lined the pockets of the rich, and let the middle class wither. Now, we have no real choice.
“Either we can pay more for our electric bills through solar feed-in tariffs and carbon caps, or we can keep the status quo. Energy bills are going up anyways.
They will climb as the economy climbs. When shortages or wars start, they will go way up. If we are not ready for that time, we will surely stumble and fall,” he said.
Noting that the era of cheap oil will soon be over, Prof. Steinberg said it costs over $70 a barrel to produce oil from oil sands as against less than $15 from traditional oil wells. “Oil is as cheap as it will ever be right now.
Mexico, once our greatest supplier is seeing their Cantrell field dwindle away, now they are going offshore. Saudi Arabia says they have umpteen barrels of proven reserves, but, they won’t let anyone else verify that. Canada is now our biggest supplier and that comes from oil sands and shale.
New extraction methods squeeze out oil that was formerly unrecoverable from old wells. Fracking blasts large amounts of fluids into the ground to break underground shale and rock structures allowing the oil to pool in an area to be extracted. Evidence of the damage this does is showing up in people’s water faucets all over the country he stated.”
