FG eyes potential in green hydrogen
As part of the push to switch from fossil fuels to cleaner energy, the federal government announced on Tuesday that it has begun looking into potential in green hydrogen.
This was revealed by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ekperikpe Ekpo, at the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology’s Stakeholders’ Engagement on Green Hydrogen Development in Nigeria in Abuja.
He pointed out that the search for sustainable energy solutions has forced stakeholders to adopt an inventive mentality and go into the undiscovered realm of green hydrogen production.
Declaring 2021–2030 as the decade of gas in Nigeria, he continued, “We in Nigeria have embraced our gas resources as our transition fuel.
“Nigeria is well-positioned to become an industrialized nation due to its proven gas reserve of 208 trillion cubic feet and the necessary rules and regulations put in place to maximize the use of these resources.
“We are still open to investigating opportunities in hydrogen, even as we continue to utilize our gas resources. Nigeria, with its abundance of gas and oil resources, is in a unique position to use its infrastructure and experience to move towards its hydrogen potential.”
Ekpo said that there was a great deal of potential for conventional and sustainable energy to work together, and that the nation needs to take advantage of this to diversify its energy sources.
The Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology, Uche Geoffrey, explained the benefits of green hydrogen by saying, “As we know, green hydrogen results from splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, using electricity generated from renewable sources.”
According to him, it offers excellent potential to address the detrimental impacts of climate change occasioned by the release of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels into the environment.
“Among other economic uses, it serves as viable and sustainable pathways for the generation of alternative energy, industrial development, environmentally friendly transportation fuel, methanol production, and fertilizer production.”
According to Geoffrey, the demand for hydrogen will probably peak at 700 million metric tones by 2050, and until 2030, the yearly output of hydrogen is expected to climb by 9.2%.
“Therefore, it is the ideal moment for Nigeria to take advantage of this chance to stay ahead of the West rather than having to catch up. Nigeria must take the lead and be a vital part of the global energy transformation as a nation,” he said.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration used gas as a transition fuel.
