Nigeria’s recent initiative to eliminate gas flaring through technically and commercially sustainable gas utilisation projects developed by competent third-party investors has started to yield result.
This is as one of Nigeria’s biggest Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) distributor, Powergas and independent Austrian clean tech company, ETEFA, have introduced gas-fired city buses for public transportation in Nigeria.
It is said that the introduction of the gas-fired city buses is expected to save Nigeria over $2.5 billion per year by reducing fuel costs in the transportation and power generation sectors by over 30 percent.
Officials of ETEFA and Powergas Nigeria revealed the introduction of the gas-fired buses during a business networking event hosted by the Commercial Counsellor of the Austrian Embassy, Guido Stock, with the support of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) in Lagos.
Natural gas flaring is one of the biggest environmental disasters of Nigeria. Annually, over 7 billion Standard Cubic Meter (SCM1) of Natural Gas is being flared in Nigeria, leading to casualties of up to 2,500 individuals in the Niger Delta region (due to gas flare related pollution and emissions).
Gas flare emissions contribute to 20 percent of the entire Greenhouse Gases (GHG) of the country and are causing a massive waste of energy and financial resources.
Speaking at the event, Sumeet Singh, general manager, Powergas, reiterated the company’s commitment to positively contributing to the clean environment of Nigeria.
According to Singh, Nigeria’s annual diesel importation is the same as the Natural Gas being flared, saying, “We know that diesel imports are US dollar dependent, hence increasing the cost of fuel and decreasing the country’s scarce forex reserves.”
Natural gas on the other hand is one of the most environmentally friendly energy sources, he said. With abundant reserves of 188tcf (Trillion Cubic Feet), Nigeria has the largest gas reserves in Africa.
As a domestically available natural resource, effective utilisation is extremely important for import substitution (of liquid fuels) and forex savings. Gas Flare Reduction Programme sponsored projects can clean and process flare gas into Natural Gas, along with other by-products like propane, butane, LPG.
Singh further said, as a company, “we believe that if all of Nigeria’s Gas Flare is captured and processed – it can power up to 200,000 city buses (public transport) or 200,000 trucks (commercial transport), or even double Nigeria’s power generation capacity, while significantly improving the quality of the air (lower carbon and particulate emissions).
Introduction of gas-fired city buses for public transport will significantly lower ticket prices for passengers. This will especially have a positive impact on the lower income populace who spend up to 40 percent of their monthly income on public transport.
In his keynote speech, the CEO ETEFA, Johann Rieger, explained that the Clean, Economic and Safe Transportation (CEST) programme under the Gas Flare Monetisation Projects, CEST Programme’s targets include improving environmental and health conditions by reduction of emissions, lowering the cost of public and commercial transportation, while fostering local talent employment with technology transfer and strategic knowledge sharing.
According to Johann, in order to show the full potential of the economies of the CNG city buses, ETEFA together with leading European partners developed a high quality 12-meter CNG City Bus prototype for the special needs and infrastructure requirements in Nigeria. The prototype is currently built, and local testing shall start with strategic local partners mid-2019.
Powergas will provide the necessary infrastructure for supply of flare gas based CNG and ETEFA will supply highly efficient gas engines and associated technology, he said.
The bus will especially fulfil Euro 5/EEV emission standards and European norms in economics and sustainability with a targeted lifespan of a minimum of 15 years, low operating costs and costs of investment close to the level of Chinese buses.
ETEFA is ready to support local manufacturers with transfer of technology to manufacture these world-class buses in future under license directly in Nigeria, he said. Depending on test results and respective orders, local serial production could be started by one of the well-established car manufacturers in Nigeria already in 2020.
This will create additionally hundreds of high skilled working places in manufacturing and maintenance of buses, and support local partners to build a sustainable, cost efficient and clean transportation platform in the country and dramatically reduce damages to the local environment and health of people.
