Power
By Anthony Isibor
AS business organizations and individuals continue to embrace the realities of the new energy order geared towards reducing the environmental damages caused by years of carbon emissions, it is important to take a look at some facts about renewable energy alternatives that have been ignored.
As the West, particularly Western Europe, continues to mount pressure on other countries of the world to embrace cleaner energy through solar, wind, and other forms of renewable energy like hydropower, Professor Bart Nnaji, Founder and Chairman, Geometric Power Group, brings to light some facts about renewable energy that have been overlooked.
Speaking at the Inaugural Dele Momodu Annual Lecture in Lagos, Professor Nnaji noted that because renewable energy has been marketed as the silver bullet to climate change, many are under the impression that there are no environmental issues with electric vehicles, solar panels, solar batteries, wind farms, dams, etc.
According to him, this assumption is an error because a critical raw material used in the production of solar panels and batteries is lithium-ion is a mineral like coal or crude oil and is mined. The process of extracting it is environmentally hazardous. But no-one talks about it.
He added that in Chile where it is produced, more than in any other country, nearby rivers have been polluted.
“Protests by the citizens against pollution have been met by brute force by security agents, violating the rights and dignity of the people. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, where cobalt, copper and lithium-ion are produced massively, there are human rights abuses on an industrial scale. There is also child labour, in addition to other forms of labour exploitation.
“The beneficiaries are mostly Western multinationals. The DRC Government towards the end of April 2024, hired the services of a team of French lawyers to write to Apple Corporation, the American technology giant, accusing it of benefitting from illegal actions in the eastern part of the country where lithium ion, copper, and copper used in the manufacture of electronic gadgets like smart phones and solar panels as well as batteries are mined. Rebels are active in this part of the DRC.
“In New York State where the government plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 and by 85% by 2050 from the 1990 levels through solar and wind power, there have been protests against the conversion of farmlands to solar and wind farms. There have also been protests against the destruction of biodiversity and the habitat generally.”
Prof. Nnaji also adds as part of the disadvantages of call to abandon fossil fuel is that Electric cars, for instance, are expensive.
He noted that the price Tesla vehicles range from $40,240 to $47,240. “Though Elon Musk, rattled by cheaper EVs from China like those from BYD, is working on producing more affordable models. What is more, there are not enough Supercharger networks in the United States. To worsen matters, other electric cars could not recharge at Tesla’s facilities until recently.
“Solar panels and batteries do not charge at night. This adds to the deficit of high costs, especially in poor nations. However, these deficiencies are hardly mentioned in the mainstream Western media. It is like a wind farm that works only when there is considerable wind, but this inadequacy is scarcely discussed,” he said.
Even in the unlikely event that rich nations wean themselves off fossil fuels within the foreseeable future, the Earth will continue to be polluted because most developing nations do not have the resources and technical know-how to transition yet to clean energy.
Bangladesh, a nation of 170 million people, has been building new coal plants, and the beneficiaries are not just the local people and local businesses, but also big Western firms like Walmart of the United States and Zara of Spain. Developed countries and multilateral institutions need to assist developing countries with technology, human capital development, infrastructure, and finance to grapple with the basic challenges of development. After all, the climate crisis was unleashed by rich nations. The poor nations are victims.
He therefore urged that countries like Nigeria have the responsibility to remind developed nations that much as natural gas is a fossil fuel, it is a transition fuel because of its relative cleanliness. Even lithium-ion promoted as the silver bullet to the climate crisis has serious defects, including the fact that it is mined like any other mineral and, ipso facto, causes environmental pollution.
“While the Nigerian government should be encouraged to explore foreign markets for its resources like natural gas, sight should not be lost on the fact that charity should begin at home. In fact, an emergency has to be declared in the domestic gas market to save the electricity sector and address other key issues. The Super grid should be given priority to boost the nation’s transmission capacity.
“The Federal Government has to resume signing power purchase agreements, PPAs, with appropriate guarantee instrument to attract private sector investment in the power sector so that Nigeria can experience proper economic trajectory like other emerging nations such as the BRIC nations: Brazil, Russia, India, and China or even the CIVETS: Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa.” Prof. Nnaji said.
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-May 22, 2024 @ 12:06 GMT|
Tags: Anthony Isibor Geometric Power Group Professor Bart Nnaji
