ACCORDING to the Federal Government, almost 174 million Nigerians do not have access to Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), also known as cooking gas.
It stated that this was due to Nigeria’s high level of energy poverty, and that proponents of global energy transition must take into account aspects like energy security and economic development.
Chief Timipre Sylva, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, announced this in Abuja at the 2022 Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum, which had the theme “Global Energy Transition: Implications on Future Investments in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry.”
He said, “As we all know, Nigeria is still bedeviled with energy poverty. Nigeria currently has one of the highest rates of energy poverty in the world.
“Some estimates put it that only about 55 per cent of over 200 million people in Nigeria have access to electricity, while only 13 per cent have access to clean cooking.”
According to the minister’s remark, 13% corresponds to 26 million individuals, implying that 174 million people in the country do not have access to LPG.
Sylva, who was represented by Sani Gwarzo, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, emphasized that energy sufficiency should be Nigeria’s goal in order to secure energy security and eliminate the country’s debilitating energy poverty.
He stated that equating energy transition with the elimination of fossil fuels was deceptive.
“It is actually malicious to give fossil fuels a bad name after most countries have ridden on the backs of the same fossil fuels to develop socially and economically,” the minister stated.
He added, “Energy transition is about providing clean energy, and not about discriminating between energy sources.
“In the face of the current high level of energy poverty worldwide, all energy sources will be required to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal on energy.”
In his remarks to the forum, Bello Gusau, the Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund, said that a recent publication by the Energy Information Administration predicted a roughly 50% increase in global energy use by 2050, headed by renewable energy growth.
Though petroleum and other liquid fuels are expected to remain the world’s greatest energy source in 2050, renewable energy sources such as wind and solar are expected to increase to almost the same level, according to the journal.
“Based on this projection, future investments in the Nigerian oil and gas industry may decline due to the global push for clean energy,” Gusau stated.
He added, “Today, Nigeria’s petroleum industry contributes approximately 80 per cent of the Federal Government’s revenue and 90 per cent of Nigeria’s export earnings.
“Therefore, it has become very important that we start thinking of alternative sources of energy outside the fossil-based systems of energy production and consumption (including oil, natural gas and coal), and pay more attention to renewable energy sources like wind and solar, as well as lithium-ion batteries.”
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