Yar’adua Approves Higher Electricity Tariff

I don't think the renewable energy idea should be thrown out that quickly. Sweden and Ice land have both established intrinsic renewable energy systems and ohers are being researched. Ever heard of Hydrogen and solar powers all these are not just ideas but are being practices. Of course it is understandable that the Nigerian government have never of these when they have their heads up their butts. All the oil we do have does us no good anyways so why and how will we think far and intelligently enough into renewable energy.

Is there an energy ministry in Nigeria or is it just a crude oil industry?

there is no 'sudden interest' oil is getting more expensive and more difficult to get - the countries are trying to secure their own future supplies first before going on any 'renewable' path.

No one truly knows how much oil there is out there - areas like the Arctic may still contained vast untapped reserves, there might still be oil for the next 100 years, not to talk of coal which will be sufficient for the next 250 years.

The renewable drive is basically to avert global warming - but the fact is most people will not pay more for something simply to be 'sustainable' - they like the idea, but pay more? Then they think twice.

@ wendy

I am not 'throwing away' renewable energy, the simple truth is that, at current prices, it will be FOOLISH of us to be seeking that as the solution. We cannot afford it. Hydrogen power? Where on earth do you think the Hydrogen comes from (80% of world supply)? Thats right - good ol Natural Gas

Why bother converting to hydrogen when you can burn the methane directly and generate power? even the largest solar growth markets - Germany are only growing as fast due to expensive subsidies which we cannot afford.

I am certain that these technologies will not solve Nigeria's problem in the short to medium term - maybe in 20 years and upwards but not now.

As regards the Ministries and what not, there is actually an initiative being considered to generate power from the 'mountains' of rice husks being produced in Abakaliki to initiate the 'renewable' energy drive, as well as another to produce substantial ethanol from sugar cane to begin to control demand for petroleum products.

The only economical advantage we have at present is bio-diesel production and the likes - but in the face of rampant hunger in the land, I think using lad for that is morally wrong - feed your people first. The coast line we have is poor for power generation, the UK has the best tidal/coastal resources in the world and are yet to utilise it.

Our problem is not reaching for those things far off, it is utilising what is readily available - natural gas being flared daily.

peak oil? threat to the economy?

That is what was threatened in the late 70's as well, and the economies of the world adapted - they will adapt to any 'peak oil' scenario as well.

The world is a lot less dependent on oil than you think, the problem is that it has been way too CHEAP. When the price goes up, then people will start using oil for those functions that cannot be replaced by other products. Oil will probably never run out - it will get more and more expensive to extract, but it won't run out - there are many reserves which are currently 'unviable' due to high cost of production, as prices increase, more and more of these will become viable thus increasing oil's lifespan

People are complaining no doubt, but I don't see any drastic moves like reduced driving, reduced power use or the like - its nowhere near the crisis level it seems like. One other thing - once the Niger Delta issues settle down and normal oil pumping resumes, oil prices will drop a bit. Oil was $9 a barrel just in 1999 - the industry is highly cyclical and I wouldn't bet against another drop in prices occuring sometime in the future.

WHAT HAS THAT GOT TO DO WITH ANYTHING???

did u even read my post properly,,, dude!!!! (^{don't knw y u take every opportunity to attack me})

i meant we still hav oil in in Nigeria,,, so no need to go anywhere
if it is managed properly, guess what country calls the shots
America is running out and doing everything it can to hide the fact
Gordon Brown has just signed off a new policy to ensure 10% of petrol should be made from bio fuels,,, what does that say to u,  a country  in trouble!,,, why would anyone want to leave their country to come here when d people themselves are think of leaving,,,

I disagree 4HIm these 'alternatives' were not being harnessed for power at all, and lets face it - those 'good old days' can NEVER return, no modern economy can/will survive by exporting agricultural products like oil palm, that era is well and truly over.

What we do need to do is find ways to utilize agricultural waste for power generation, the rice husk initiative should be a good starting point to build local capacity in bio-mass combustion.

Rural areas would be the ideal place for such trials to be carried out - but for cities like Lagos, Abuja, P/H and the like, we require MASSIVE generation from gas or coal fired power plants, if we do not do that, we are pissing in the wind.

very Good approach to the problem.

The other time I was talking about the problem of Nigeria was not about generation but about transmission and distribution.

One of the key ingredient is resolved which is cost.

Now people will want to invest in power because of the cost and the more the investors power will be more cheaper.

Hydro dams aren't efficient esp wher d river has been dammed in diff points

i don't knw why wind power is not being harness, the north is ideal for this,,, also tidal turbines are very efficient and gaining more popularity,,, barbeach should be put to good use,,,,

the problem with coal plants is the  carbon emissions,,, also it isn't a renewable source, which is only delaying the problem

but the technology doesnt exist yet,,, its all ideas and speculation right now,,, recycling CO2 is the ideal now but nobody knows how yet,,, the process still uses too much energy and defeats thewhole purpose really

the thing with wind energy is that winds strengths cannot be predicted, large wind farms in the desert region are best as the landscape is relatively flat meaning the threat of windless days are massively reduced. the UK is harnessing offshore wind energy and that is also a way to go,,,
the larger the wind turbine the more it can produce, imagine a farm of turbines and storage facilities for when energy production is in excess,,, 

only a few days ago i visited a farm in the coastal region of wales the farmer successfully met his electricity requirements with one large turbine, he even produces excesses on most days and exports to the grid,,, if Nigeria is willing to invest it could be the solution to the energy crises,

you got take your future in your hands.

nigeria generating only 2,000MW yet they want to be 20best economies in 2020.

the truth, to be 20 best economic you need atleast 60,000MW. For nigeria this is pipe dream!

UK -> 80,371MW
France -> 116,592MW
Germany -> 124,268MW
Italy -> 81,511MW


Nigeria -> 2,000MW

If Peak Oil is western propaganda, why are we falling for it?? Why not continue with the the "oil and gas to save Nigeria" idea instead?? By the way, I don't know what it is you meant when you said America's supply is depleted but there is abundance of oil in the country, problem is environmentalists are too scared to drill their own oil as they are afraid "teddy" and "rudolf" will not have a home if we start doing that. Hence the reason why America continues to purchase oil instead.

The irony is that our underdevelopment in this sector is now something that can be exploited. Western countries are already entrenched in using the more traditional approach to power generation and hence most of the infrastructure in these countries are dedicated to these approaches and there is now a difficulty in simply building new factilities for other approaches. However we have little to no infrastructure so why not start from scratch in the right direction but using things like renewable energy as a supplement to modern and efficient power stations? As for Nuclear, i would be really nervous about this in Nigerian hands. I mean, a couple of year ago a plane in Port harcourt that was about to take of had to stop because there was a cow on the runway, and you want to put something like Nuclear eenergy in these same hands? LOL. I am not saying it is impossible and not viable, i am just saying i would be quite nervous about this, but Nigeria needs power.

I totally agree,,,
I actually wrote a paper proposing that the UK take a cue frm so called developing countries like India
it simply a case of going back to basics

the problem now is to get the developing countries (in this case, Nigeria) to slow down and take stock,,, it would be far easier for us to go the renewable and sustainable energy route than for developed countries

I guess You beat me to it

@ Kobo
Granted, Nuclear energy might be a cheap way to go, but knowing how well we are "schooled in the art of maintenace" are you not passing a death sentence to Nigerians.
I sometimes use radioactive elements in my experiments and I know the amount of training I had to go through to even qualify to use that. Not to talk of the amount of paperwork that follows each quantity of isotopes around. And these are just very small quantities.

This has nothing to do with personal opinions. This is the reality we (Nigerians) are going to be facing once we go nuclear. Unless if our maintenace culture is going to change over night, then we really have to be careful about messing with radioactivity.

Do you ever consider that maybe we are just not cut out for such?? I mean this whole Maintainance culture thing??? For the very fact that this problem exists in every facet of the Nigerian way of life, don't you think it is time we outsource that which we do not have naturally and focus on that which we can actually do??? I mean instead of waiting around until so many Nigerians adopt the maintainance culture, what if we get people to work on that part for us while we focus on where our strengths lie ( if we can now figure out where that is) and maybe catch up with the rest of the world, even with that problem still in fixing mode?? ROFLMAO!!!

IT'S QUITE PATHETIC THAT THOSE IN GOVT ARE ALWAYS CHASING WHITE ELEPHANT PROJECTS. THERE TEND TO BE FOOD CRISIS IN THE COUNTRY NOW, PRICES OF FOOD ARE FAST SKY ROCKETING AND NOT WITHIN THE REACH OF AVERAGE NIGERIAN.
THE BILLIONS TO BE SPENT IN SUBSIDIZING ELECTRICITY AS WE ALL KNOW WOULD SOON FIND THEIR WAY INTO THE POCKETS OF THE FEW RICH CABALS.
THESE CABALS ARE SOMEWHERE LAUGHING AT US AND COUNTING ON THE FUTURE INCOME THEY WOULD MAKE FROM THESE,
MALLAM YAR DUA,   You BETTER MAKE CONCRETE MOVES THAT WOULD LIGHTEN THE NATION,