Cut emissions, boost clean energy via methane, experts urge FG

Experts at a workshop on Methane Recovery and Power Integration in Nigeria have called on the Federal Government to adopt a strategic framework aimed at converting methane emissions into energy resources capable of supporting 4.2 million households annually.

The experts said Nigeria faced a “climate-energy paradox,” noting that methane emissions across the country’s rice fields, oil and gas facilities, and coal mining sector were being wasted despite widespread energy poverty.

Methane is a colourless, odourless gas made up of one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms.

The workshop was held on Friday at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, under the EU-ECOWAS-sponsored and British Council-administered Postgraduate Energy Planning and Management Programme.

The experts, in a communiqué issued at the workshop, noted that satellite-derived estimates using TROPOMI Sentinel-5P data showed the country’s actual methane emissions were between 1.3 and 3.6 times higher than figures contained in current national inventories.

According to the experts, methane, described as a greenhouse gas with a Global Warming Potential 28 times higher than carbon dioxide over a century, could help meet household cooking energy demands if systematically recovered.

The experts, including the programme coordinator, Prof. J-F. Akinbami, and its convener, Prof. I. Ogundari, and the OAU Vice Chancellor, who was represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academics, Prof. G. Aderounmu, added that Tier 3 estimates put methane emissions at 45 MtCO₂e compared to the Tier 1 estimate of 22 MtCO₂e.

The communiqué stated, “The energy sector alone holds a recoverable energy potential of 80,357 TJ — sufficient to support the annual energy demand of 4.2 million households.”

They resolved that methane recovery offered opportunities to address energy poverty, climate change, rural development, and economic diversification simultaneously.

The experts urged the Federal Government to stop treating methane as an environmental nuisance and instead recognise it as a strategic national energy resource, calling for multi-sector coordination across agriculture, oil and gas, and solid minerals sectors to maximise methane recovery outcomes.

Among its recommendations, the experts urged the Federal Government to establish a National Methane Recovery Agency with powers to coordinate methane recovery activities across agriculture, petroleum, and mining sectors.

They also called on the National Assembly to enact a Methane Recovery and Utilisation Act mandating methane capture at major emission points, including oil and gas facilities, coal mines, and large-scale rice paddies.

The participants further recommended the integration of TROPOMI Sentinel-5P satellite monitoring into national methane inventory systems and the inclusion of methane emission quantification in Environmental Impact Assessments for oil and gas, agricultural, and mining projects.

On financial policy, the experts recommended prioritising Pressure Swing Adsorption technology due to what it described as its superior financial performance, including a Net Present Value of $780.63m and a payback period of 2.08 years.

They also urged the government and the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission to introduce fiscal incentives to guarantee a minimum attractive rate of return of 27.5 per cent for private sector investors in methane recovery projects.

The experts further proposed the establishment of a Green Methane Recovery Fund financed through carbon credit revenues, Green Climate Fund allocations, and budgetary appropriations.

In the agricultural sector, participants recommended the adoption of the System of Rice Intensification as a national rice farming policy across major rice-producing states including Kebbi, Ebonyi, Niger, and Anambra.

They also advocated the deployment of community-scale biogas digesters in rural communities and the integration of recovered agricultural methane distributed as Compressed Natural Gas into the national energy ladder policy.

For the oil and gas sector, the experts urged the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission to mandate the deployment of Vapour Recovery Units at high-venting facilities in the Niger Delta.

It also called on the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources to coordinate the development of CNG distribution infrastructure and urged oil companies to publicly report annual methane recovery benchmarks.

The experts endorsed a five-year action roadmap beginning with a national methane audit using TROPOMI Sentinel-5P technology in the first year.