Transition: FG to deploy tech for cleaner energy

The federal government has called for the deployment of modern technology to transform fossil fuel to cleaner energy. The minister of state for petroleum resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, stated this in Abuja yesterday at the 2022 Society of Petroleum Engineers Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum (SPEOLEF). Mr Sylva, in a keynote address, said energy […]

The federal government has called for the deployment of modern technology to transform fossil fuel to cleaner energy.

The minister of state for petroleum resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, stated this in Abuja yesterday at the 2022 Society of Petroleum Engineers Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum (SPEOLEF).

Mr Sylva, in a keynote address, said energy transition was about providing clean energy and not discriminating between energy sources.

Represented by the permanent secretary of the ministry, Nasir Sani Gwarzo, the minister said this year’s theme: “Global Energy Transition: Implications on Future Investments in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry”, was apt, especially at a time when the climate change mantra was at the top of the agenda worldwide.

He said, “In the face of the current high level of energy poverty worldwide, all energy sources will be required to achieve the SDGs’ energy goal. It is evident that this goal cannot be achieved by renewable energy sources alone. All available energy resources should be used, while available technologies should be leveraged to make them cleaner.”

He noted that Nigeria currently had one of the highest rates of energy poverty in the world, saying some estimates put it that only about 55 per cent of over 200 million people in the country had access to electricity, while only 13 per cent had access to clean cooking.

The minister further said, “Nigeria’s goal should be energy sufficient in order to ensure energy security and end the ravaging energy poverty in the country. This is required to drive our economic growth and end the prevailing economic poverty.”

The group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL), Mr Mele Kyari, represented by the group general manager, corporate planning and strategy of NNPCL, Mrs Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, said there must continued collaboration among policy makers and industry players to ensure a proper energy transition.