The federal government has announced that its methanol fuel technology program will create more than 40 million new job opportunities for Nigerians within the next two years.
According to Nairametrics, the government’s methanol economy program seeks to make use of methanol’s enormous potential as a clean and sustainable energy source.
The Minister of Science, Innovation, and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji, announced over the weekend in Abuja, saying, “With this project, Nigeria will be positioned as a leader in Africa’s energy transition.
According to Nnaji, “It could potentially generate over 40 million new job opportunities in two years and support other initiatives aimed at reducing the negative effects of the removal of fuel subsidies on the populace.”
The minister declared that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is steadfastly devoted to harnessing advances in science and technology to address Nigeria’s issues.
He also bemoaned the fact that, despite the country’s abundance of natural resources, youth unemployment continues to be a difficult problem, made worse by the tendency of the country to export jobs by importing goods that could be produced there instead.
He claimed that because Nigeria’s natural resources were mainly untapped, the country was forced to purchase goods when it might have made more money by producing and exporting them.
“While importing chocolate, we exported cocoa. We imported peanut butter but exported groundnuts. We imported toothpicks but exported wood. Although we imported petroleum products, we exported crude oil. Due to this, less money is generated, stagnated job creation, aggravated poverty in the country, and weakened our currency and the economy.”
He went on to say that he believes a methanol-driven economy can result in good things like more employment, technical advancement, resource localization, electricity production, clean home energy, a reduction in gas flaring, and environmental sustainability.
According to him, manufacturers would employ methanol as a feedstock for a number of product lines once it is introduced.
“It is more affordable than PMS as a fuel for the transportation industry, environmentally friendly, has a higher octane rating, and improves the performance of cars. Additionally, a 15% methanol/85% PMS blend of methanol is possible. All vehicles can use this mixture without any significant change.
“Using wood and kerosene to cook darkens pots and could cause health problems if one is exposed to the fumes for long, during cooking. Methanol, being a cleaner and cheaper fuel, will help to solve this problem”, he added.
