How to deploy smart energy for environment protection

Infrastructure maintenance with Tunde Obileye

Nigeria has been undergoing an economic crisis for a while and central to this has always been the lack of energy for productivity and domestic use. For as long as Nigerians can remember, power cuts have been the norm rather than the exception. This is unfortunately not only a Nigerian crisis, though it is worse in Nigeria, but an African crisis as well.

According to the African Development Bank, Africa remains trapped in a situation of severe energy deficiency. 645million Africans do not have access to electricity, 700million with no access to clean cooking energy and about 600,000 die annually due to indoor pollution from reliance on biomass for cooking.

Per capita electricity use in Africa averages 181 kWh compared to about 13,000 kWh in the United States of America and over 6,500 kWh in Europe. Electricity and energy also cost Africans more even with so little access – Africa’s poorest pay some of the highest energy costs in the world, about 60 – 80 times per unit more in Northern Nigeria than residents in cities of New York and London.

The implication of this is that there is an over-reliance on other sources of electricity that we all can attest to – to run any business in Nigeria, or do anything for that matter. We all need to individually generate our power, with generators being the ‘go to’ energy source. Generators have become so commonplace and ‘normal’ in Nigeria that I do not recall any conversation ever on how actually effective, safe and environmentally friendly these generators are. It is almost unheard of, not to have a generator to provide your own power, especially in all of Nigeria’s urban centres.

Generators have allowed businesses to function, especially small businesses, given the number of people involved in small businesses, including tailors, volcanizers, barbers, hair dressers – and also big businesses such as the banks, manufacturing, telecommunications. This has also meant increased costs, often passed on to the consumers. While generators provide convenient and accessible, if not cheap (given the rising costs of electricity) alternative source of power, there are risks associated with using generators on a long-term basis.

The number one risk is the inhalation of carbon monoxide and the effects – short or long term. The immediate effect is that inhaling carbon monoxide can lead to fatality. Stories abound of people who have been found dead as a result of carbon monoxide inhalation in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria. Long-term effects include impact on memory, brain function and behavior. Lagos, for example, is where majority of businesses in Nigeria are located and a city of about 20 million people – have we ever imagined how much carbon monoxide is being pumped into the air and how that can be affecting our health?

This brings me to my point – how can businesses begin to look at their practices and focus their corporate social responsibility on the environment, and help government to not only develop safe and alternative sources of energy, support research on the impact of carbon monoxide inhalation on health, but also actually begin to develop their own medium term plans of how to wean their companies off generators, and promote alternative sources of energy for their use? While the former two will involve businesses coming together with government research institutes to fund such initiatives and support government, the latter can be started immediately. As back up to generators, companies will need to begin to invest in solar energy for their businesses. While this might be more expensive or not yet feasible for manufacturing companies, other companies like banks can start immediately.

Solar energy can be used to back up generators and power appliances that do not use a lot of energy – energy saving bulbs, computers, etc. which will make the businesses function, and also for light nights. This way, generators will only be used for central cooling, and as more changes are made within the businesses and people, less reliance in generators that will save costs, improve the environment and ultimately improve health and save lives.