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In the wake of unending oil drilling
catastrophes giving rise to massive destruction of the
ecosystem, irresponsible onshore/offshore drilling
practices, environmental concerns such as increased green
house emissions (GHG), political instabilities within the
oil producing regions, rising concerns over the continual
availability of fossil fuels- Nigeria’s cardinal source of
foreign exchange, fluctuating oil market, politics of oil
trading within the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC), brain drain as a result of underemployment
of Nigeria’s university and polytechnic graduates, it has
become exigent for Nigeria to join the rest of the world in
the search for renewable energy which is biofuel.
Fanaei et.al (2008) defined biofuel as a
liquid or gaseous fuel for the transport sector that is
produced from biomass. Brazil and the United States are
currently the world leading nations in biofuel production
utilizing sugarcane and corn respectively in the quest for
this all important fuel. Brazil currently has motor vehicles
that are engineered to run on only bioethanol- the most
common of biofuels. Notwithstanding these enviable feat,
bioethanol is not yet a perfect fuel for operating the
current design of motor vehicles given to so many
shortcomings which include but not limited to corrosiveness
of ethanol and its hygroscopic nature – high water content
could lead to phase separation between the water and
gasoline. Currently 5% to 30% ethanol is blended with
gasoline in so many developed countries as a means of
reducing the carbon imprints associated with using pure
gasoline, increased octane rating (ethanol is converted to
ethyl tertiary-butyl ether to raise the octane level of
gasoline and promote cleaner combustion) as well as serving
as anti-knocking agent are some of the known benefits of
biofuel. Until automobiles and other machines that use
gasoline are re-designed to operate fully on biofuel,
blending continues to be nearest and very necessary usage of
bioethanol. Nigeria nay Africa can neither afford to convert
sugarcane nor corn to biofuel for such common reasons such
as the widely debated food versus fuel campaign which simply
means that it will be inhuman to channel food to the
production of fuel when the vast majority of the populace
are nearly feeding from dustbins. Other environmental
impacts are the expensive irrigation practices and the
pressure on land use. Extremely weak research activities to
generate the best strains of crops taking the least time
from germination to maturation as well as having desirable
traits to make the entire process profitable. Another minor/overcomeable
issue could be poor management style as exemplified in
almost every facet of the Nigerian life, this is one
singular factor is militating against us in the quest for
total self reliance. Having mentioned all these drawbacks,
shall we rend our clothes and pour ash on our heads in
defeat? The answer is NO. There is an upheaval in the
pursuit of biofuel production using agricultural, industrial
and municipal wastes as primary substrates. Corn stover,
crop straws, sugarcane bagasse, herbaceous crops (alfalfa,
switch grass), short rotation woody crops, forestry
residues, waste paper and other wastes (municipal and
industrial) are currently used in the quest for sustainable
biofuel production. Currently the production volume is a
little above 30 billion litres and climbing, this represents
about 2% of the total gasoline usage worldwide. Nigeria has
environmental management problems especially in the
commercial cities. Many cities are suffused with wastes as a
result of extremely poor/inefficient disposal systems in
place. Some the systems in place were designed by the
colonial masters and no longer technically feasible.
Municipal wastes generated in everyday life could be turned
into biofuels with the right technologies and of course the
right attitude. The switch grass, poplar, alfalfa etc which
can be used for our biofuel production grow on marginal
lands and the need for irrigation and extensive monitoring
is totally eliminated. Agricultural wastes could be
channelled for the same process at no cost or threat to our
food chain. Industrial wastes which as at now constitute a
major biohazard are also cheap sources of our biofuel
substrate. Industrial waste could come from food and
beverages processing companies, paper mills, etc.
Biodegradable municipal solid wastes (BMSW) represent the
cheapest and easiest means of providing substrate for our
biofuel industry. Nigeria is groaning under the burden of
excessive municipal waste, the easiest form of disposal
amongst city dwellers is to throw out the trash into
drainages during light to heavy rainfall. This is of
tremendous public health concern with the vast majority of
Nigerians becoming ill due to contamination of our food and
water sources. Waste management has never been easier than
using it for our biofuel production. As a matter of fact,
the idea of landfills is being phased out in advanced
countries. European legislative pressures target for
minimising landfill use in European countries and the amount
of biodegradable municipal solid waste (BMSW) going to
landfill must be reduced by 25% by 2010, 50% by 2013 and 65%
by 2020.
Do
we as a nation have such a plan? I don’t think so.
Nigeria and the rest of Africa are virgin
lands for biofuel production, Antoni et.al (2007) noted that
Biofuel industry in Africa is marginal whereas production
potential is enormous. With the exception of South Africa,
Africa is still in the woods and making very limited
attempts at coming close to understanding the immense gains
of utilization bioethanol at least in blend with gasoline
for better protection of our environment. The environmental
impact of crude oil spillage which was a recurring decimal
with the Niger-Delta regions of Nigeria is still being felt
till today. The latest oil spillage in the Gulf of Mexico
involving British Petroleum could cost more than the
estimated $20 billion dollars to clean up and the cleaning
up process could take several years. No mention could be
made here as to the likely rearrangement/distortion of the
entire ecosystem as a result of this terrible spillage.
Nigeria’s economic backbone rest on crude oil with very
little contribution from other sectors. So many other
ventures have been attempted but failed, a problem that is
largely attitudinal- allowing the wrong persons to run such
intended money making ventures and with very little
accountability. Nigeria has all that it takes to research
extensively into biofuel production and by this I mean
starting with the two most promising biofuel- Bioethanol and
Biobutanol. Our government must think futuristic here, our
oil reserve may not last forever and even if it will, once
the biofuel production is optimized in leading research
countries, our earning capabilities might be greatly
hampered. This would be another catastrophe for the economy.
It is left for the government to design and implement a
sustainable biofuel production programme employing the
services of skilled professionals in the industries to
design a formidable process, faculties of various higher
institutions in several disciplines and the armies of
students (from undergraduate to doctoral candidates) to work
on the research ranging from the target microorganisms to
use and the best substrates for each microorganism,
management practices, engineering, environemental issues
etc, this programme if implemented could employ millions of
unemployed and/or underemployed Nigerians . Currently most
bioethanol and biobutanol production rely on known species
of such microorganisms as Saccharomyces cerevisiae,
Zymomonas mobilis, Pichia stipitis, Clostridium
acetobutylicum, Trichoderma reesei Streptococcus fragilis,
Kluyveromyces fragilis, Klebsiella oxytoca, Erwinia
chrysanthemi etc. Research could identify novel strains
within these species that could surpass the abilities of the
current strains, even an entirely new microorganism with the
desirable traits- high ethanol/butanol yield could be
discovered in the quest. Because the current microorganisms
have their own limitations; the first target here should be
genetic engineering of the known strains to optimize their
performance from saccharification to fermentation. British
Petroluem (BP) supports the biofuel research centre of
University of California at Berkeley with $500 million
dollars. I do not know the extent of support given to
Nigerian Universities for such research activities by the
locally operating oil companies and even if they support
research how would the funds go to research hungry
professors without unnecessary influence by university
management? The way forward here is extensive research
involving a lot of academic areas. Government must also
invest money into this programme by supporting the training
of Nigerians to study the entire biofuel production
process. Some of our crude oil profits must be channelled
towards this noble venture. Remember researchers are toiling
night and day to break the OPEC monopoly through sustainable
and cost effective biofuel production and once the process
becomes optimized in terms of cost; our economy would face
serious challenges if it hopes to cling on to crude oil
exportation. The way is long and the journey is arduous.
Nigeria must learn that pain is a process not an end result.
How else can we build a lasting legacy if not to join this
research now? The cost of biofuel production continues to go
down every day, once the desired cost is achieved, Nigeria
may turn into a biofuel importing nation. The current draw
back in using lignocellulosic materials are recalcitrance,
low product yield, product inhibition due to undesirable by
side products after pretreatment, inability of scientists to
identify “the do it all” microorganism, capable of starting
the process of hydrolysis to fermentation effectively but
all these draw backs are being overcome day by day. Nigeria
as a major crude oil producer must invest now in biofuel
research from the immense earnings of crude oil.
Ugochukwu Anieto
Ph.D student,
Texas, USA.
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Published
September 7th, 2010
