Nigeria’s Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, on 24th August 2021 in Abuja, organized a road-show to sensitize Nigerians on the imperative of boosting methanol fuel production technology in the country.
Dr Onu who spoke during the sensitization outing, disclosed that developed countries were gradually reducing their reliance on crude oil and placing much emphasis on cleaner and renewable sources of energy.
The clamour for cleaner energy sources, Onu noted, was in line with the “Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of countries, of which Nigeria is a part, under the 2015 Climate Change Paris Agreement.
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“The immediate impact of these initiatives is a reduction in the global demand for crude oil.’’
The minister who harped on value addition to abundant natural resources in order to strengthen the economy through revenue generation pointed out that Nigeria was more of a gas nation with huge deposits.
He stated that methanol, which remained useful and applicable in more than 1,000 different products used by people every day in various places of work, homes, factories, schools, hospitals and virtually everywhere, involved value addition.
The minister explained that methane which forms the bulk of natural gas could be converted into a new very useful chemical called methanol.
He said, “We can now see that methanol is the only way that we are going to use our gas by adding value, changing its state and converting it into something that is very useful and finds application in virtually all aspects of our economy.
“Innovation is at the heart of our ability to find a solution that is economically, environmentally and socially sustainable, that is why methanol-driven economy is beneficial in many areas.’’
Dr Onu listed these areas to include job creation, technology development and domestication, as well as electricity generation, clean household energy services, chemical industry value chain, and reduction in pulmonary diseases, among women and children.
Others were, efficient transportation services, stoppage of gas flaring and achieving environmental sustainability.
The STI minister opined that the benefits of introducing methanol fuel in the country were enormous as it would create over 40 million new jobs, made possible because methanol had a very extensive value chain.
“Every part of this nation will benefit, every segment of the society will benefit whether you are young or old, male or female.
“This is why it is important for us to find a technology which when we introduce into our economy, will help us solve the problem of unemployment in the country.’’
Dr Onu maintained that the technology would help Nigeria employ all those trained in the sciences, humanities, management and others to have jobs to do, saying all these and many more would be achieved while the environment remains protected and managed.
According to him, “Captains of chemical industries are aware that the chemical industry is one of the least developed in the country, as virtually all the chemicals used in our factories are currently imported from other countries.
“With the introduction of methanol, manufacturers will use it as a feedstock for several product lines. As a fuel in the transportation sector, it is cheaper than PMS (Petrol). It is more friendly to the environment, has higher octane rating and enhances the performance of vehicles.
“Furthermore, methanol can be blended with PMS at 15 per cent methanol and 85 per cent PMS and this blend can be used in all vehicles without requiring any significant modification.’’
He clarified that cooking with wood, charcoal and kerosene to a large extent constituted a serious threat to human health, forests and vegetation leading to deforestation, adding that methanol, being a cheaper and a cleaner fuel, would help solve these problems.
In view of all these benefits, the minister called on entrepreneurs and investors in the private sector to invest in methanol production, as other stakeholders agreed with him, stating that methanol could be an alternative to conventional transportation fuels.
They stated that the benefits of methanol include lower production costs, as methanol was cheap to produce relative to other alternative fuels.
According to them, methanol possessed improved safety since it had a lower risk of flammability compared to gasoline, therefore consenting that methanol production was important because pure methanol was an essential material in chemical synthesis.
They opined that its derivatives were being used in great quantities for building up a vast number of compounds, among them, many important synthetic dyestuffs, resins, pharmaceuticals, and perfumes.
It’s noteworthy that many researchers and scientists across the globe have argued that though hydrogen has been proposed as a clean alternative fuel source because it could be produced from water, a methanol economy presents several advantages over a hydrogen economy.
Methane, unlike hydrogen gas, is an abundant natural energy source. Hydrogen gas is dangerously more volatile than methanol at 64.7 degree Centigrade, with a boiling point of -253 degree Centigrade.
As a result, hydrogen is much more costly and complicated to store and transport, but importantly, methanol as a liquid can be seamlessly incorporated into present infrastructure.’’
This was possible because methanol could even be mixed into gasoline and dispensed from present gas stations into flex-vehicles. It is a particularly attractive alternative for conventional transportation fuels due to its low cost of implementation, low risk of flammability and toxicity, and potential to reduce pollution emissions and dependence.’’
One could wonder why after many months of this campaign by the STI minister, the government is yet to invest heavily in methanol fuel production, even when all the needed resources are readily available in the country.
The bane of Nigeria’s economic plight is inability of the governments to overcome glaring challenges while the remedies are obviously smiling at them on a daily basis.