Pollution from generator increases risk of premature death

And for the other half with access, the quality of supply is poor and availability of electricity is reduced due to load curtailment necessitated by inadequate capacity, lack of natural gas, transmission constraints and equipment outages at various points in the power grid. A load demand study in 2009 estimated that plant utilisation factor for […]

And for the other half with access, the quality of supply is poor and availability of electricity is reduced due to load curtailment necessitated by inadequate capacity, lack of natural gas, transmission constraints and equipment outages at various points in the power grid.
A load demand study in 2009 estimated that plant utilisation factor for industries dropped to almost 35 per percent, forcing a sizeable number of industries, including those of labour intensive ones such as the textile mills in Kaduna, Kano and Lagos to shut down.
Many industries and individuals, therefore, run generators to augment power supply from the grid, no wonder the generator market in Nigeria is today rated as the largest in Africa in terms of revenue and is seen as a highly lucrative and competitive industry.
All government offices including ministries and agencies, airports, seaports are run on generators with the national grid serving as back up and with annual huge budgetary allocations for diesel.
Generator repairs and overhauling services account for an average of 40 to 60 per cent of the total market revenues. It is also estimated that Nigeria spends approximately $250 million annually to import generators and their spare parts.
But a new World Bank report on the use of diesel generators in the country has found that these generators contribute to emissions of fine particulate matter (PM), including black carbon, which derives from the incomplete combustion of diesel. Particulate matter is a predisposing factor for respiratory and cardiopulmonary disease leading to increased hospital visits and risk of premature death.
The study entitled Diesel Power Generation: Inventory and Black Carbon emissions in Nigeria said local health costs can have a greater impact in the short-run in densely populated urban centres such as Abuja and Lagos where almost every house or company runs a generator.
Black carbon (BC) is the most strongly light-absorbing component of particulate matter and is the second largest warming agent after carbon dioxide, the report said.
The study also found that three sectors of the economy, namely, telecommunications, manufacturing and oil and gas are responsible for a magnitude estimate of about 2 kilotons of black carbon emissions annually from the use of diesel generators.
The report read in part: “This estimate is approximately 3 per cent of anthropogenic emissions in Nigeria while emissions from the residential, commercial and construction sectors were roughly estimated at 0.2 kilotons but more accuracy is needed which will require further data collection and analysis.
“It was estimated that these sectors could contribute significantly to generator usage but most of the generators are operated with gasoline. As fuel subsidies on gasoline are revised, the number of diesel generators could increase.”
According to the study, there are no emission standards for generators and to develop any such standards, it would be helpful to develop locally-tailored emission factors for the existing inventory of old generators as well as for new ones that are regularly injected into the national stock.
The emerging role of black carbon as a significant driver of global climate change is increasing attention on its mitigation efforts. In addition to the negative health and the climate effects of emissions, most generators contribute significantly to noise pollution which further reduces the quality of life of users and non-users alike.
Current demand for electricity in Nigeria is estimated to be between 8,000-10,000 MW and a significant part of this demand is met by onsite generating sets which are primarily fuelled by petrol and diesel. At the current pump price of about $1 per litre of diesel, it costs about twice as much to run a diesel generator compared with the power from the grid.
These factors are increasing attention on the use of diesel generators for self-generation. With the removal of subsidies on gasoline, the share of diesel generators could rise.
There are no quality control regulations so the market consists of generators of varying quality and prices. While there are regulations to control vehicular emissions from petrol and diesel engines, there are no regulations to control emissions from generators.
The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), an agency of the Federal Ministry of Environment, has responsibility for the protection and development of the environment, biodiversity conservation amongst others and is also responsible for enforcement of regulations.
A draft National Policy on the Environment proposed in 1998 sought to control amongst others: air pollution by establishing ambient air quality standards and monitoring stations at designated zone; and noise pollution by setting up noise standards including acoustic guarantees and prescribing guidelines for the control of noise. These are yet to be established.