Household Dynamics - HEDON Household Energy Network

GENERAL
Energy without the dirt? Making a case for the
integration of biomass into energy policy in Nigeria
The energy poverty that typifies rural areas of developing countries
in Africa is staggering in its proportions. These areas have become
trapped in subsistence-level economies characterised by inefficient use
of ‘non-commercial’ energy, low agricultural productivity and poor
standards of living (Best 1992). Household energy use, primarily in the
form of fuelwood for cooking, accounts for the largest share of total
energy consumption in the region. This reflects the small amounts of
energy used for commercial activities and also the inefficiency of enduse
appliances (Ibid.).
Notwithstanding the grave
proportions of the situation,
the governments of many
developing countries have not exhibited
commensurate urgency in addressing the
startling energy poverty prevalent in those
countries. Indeed, according to Warwick
and Doig (2004), the macro-energy
policies of most developing countries
(with the notable exceptions of India,
South Africa and China) do not include
any mention of what is in fact their most
important fuel source – biomass.
The above observations were borne
out at the 2008 International Renewable
Energy Conference (IREC) held in Abuja,
Nigeria. The main objective of the
conference, held annually, is to provide
a networking platform for all renewable
energy stakeholders in Africa. This article
gives an overview of the main themes
captured by the conference. I report two
main observations: first, that very little is
being done in the way of biomass energy
development in the country; and second,
that the pace at which the country is
developing its renewable energy industry
is generally slow.
With the aid of excerpts from
interviews with stakeholders in Nigeria’s
energy industry, the article illustrates
the above inferences and concludes with
recommendations for addressing the
problems recognised.
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Discussion:
Summary of observations
The International Renewable Energy
Conference was aimed at providing an
overview of the renewable energy situation
in Nigeria and in Africa as a whole, and
as such conference delegates were selected
across a wide spectrum of stakeholders.
Despite the diverse interest groups
represented at the conference however,
there were a few similar threads that ran
across the majority of the presentations.
First was the fact that there was a huge
bias towards electricity provision. Many
speakers used the term ‘energy’ when in fact
what they meant was ‘light’ or ‘lighting’.
A few speakers discussed the steps they
were taking to provide biofuels as a cleaner
alternative to gasoline. No mention was
made during the conference of promoting
cleaner use of fuelwood for cooking.
Considering that cooking accounts for 91%
of household energy consumption in Nigeria,
75% of which is attributable to traditional
biomass (Oladosu and Adegbulugbe 2004),
this is a huge oversight.
The general preoccupation with
electricity provision has impacted directly
on the energy solutions being promoted
by the majority of stakeholders. The
Nigerian government has set up a Rural
Electrification Agency which focuses on
generating off-grid electricity using solar
photovoltaic and small hydropower
technology. There is presently no such
dedicated government agency promoting
cleaner and safer use of fuelwood and
other forms of biomass. This is in spite
of the on-the-ground reality of prevalent
Author
Temilade Sesan
institute for science and society,
university of Nottingham NG7 2RD,
united Kingdom.
Telephone: +44 115 960 6740
email: laxta1@nottingham.ac.uk
solid biomass use, not only in rural areas
of the country, but in urban areas as well.
A national non-profit multi-stakeholder
council exists to provide common ground
for renewable energy professionals to
work together for efficient renewable
energy implementation and to develop a
comprehensive sustainable energy strategy
for Nigeria. The reports of the council to date
however show that much more attention
has been given to promoting solar lighting
options than to any other application. In
the reports given at the council’s Annual
General Meeting held on the last day of
the conference, no mention was made of
initiatives to improve access to cooking
energy for households and institutions.
Overall, the development of Nigeria’s
nascent renewable energy industry appears
to be tilted in favour of solar lighting
applications. Virtually all the products on
display at the conference exhibition stands
were solar photovoltaic components, most
of them imported from other countries. At
the moment, there are only two organisations
(both of them non-governmental) actively
pursuing renewable cooking applications
in the country. Neither was represented at
the conference.
The second point of observation is
that the general tone of the conference
presentations was futuristic. Words
like ‘would’, ‘should’ and ‘must’ were
continuously used in describing solutions
to the nation’s energy problems.
This suggests that a lot of initiatives
are still at the proposal/planning stage;
relatively little work has been done in
the area of implementation of renewable
energy alternatives.