Group Seeks Collaboration in Fight against Methane Emissions

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

Stakeholders at a workshop organised by the Environmental Centre for Oil Spills and Gas Flaring (ECOSGF) in partnership with African Initiative for Transparency, Accountability, and Responsible Leadership (AfriTAL), yesterday stated that to save the oil-rich Niger Delta, governments from the region must join the war against human-induced methane emission.
The stakeholders observed at the workshop held in Port Harcourt, that humans causes almost 50 per cent of methane emissions, while 50 per cent is caused by fossil fuel which has threatened the region in years past.
They observed that a major way out is funding of biogas digesters to convert waste to power and create huge wealth in the region.
The stakeholders noted that with biogas digesters, families and estates could generate power from wastes generated in the area for homes.
The Executive Director of AfriTAL, Brown Ogbeifun said the search was for the possibility of communities redesigning their septic tanks and soak-away systems in such a way that they become a veritable source of electricity and cooking gas so that waste turns to wealth and reduce the raging environmental threat.
He said of all the significant sources of emissions into the atmosphere, agriculture and improper waste management relate to human daily activities and wastes.
“These activities and wastes contribute immensely to the anthropogenic sources of methane, which has been labelled a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) contributing to global warming.  Methane emissions degrade the environment and contribute to human health hazards if not contained,” he said.
Ogbeifun revealed that uncontained methane in the atmosphere accelerates global warming and worsens air quality by forming ground-level ozone (O3).
“The formation of ground-level ozone could occur through complex chemical and photochemical reactions involving other pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These chemical reactions are accelerated by high-intensity sunlight penetration downward,”  he added.
He said methane has been identified as a potent greenhouse gas contributing significantly to global warming.
“It has been stated that over 100 years, its effects are almost 30 times greater than those of carbon dioxide (Copilot), which makes it an urgent call to action by everybody. Although methane is very useful and naturally occurring in the atmosphere, it becomes hazardous in high concentrations,” he stressed.
On his part, a researcher who said he fabricated biogas digesters, Dr Peter Chukwudi, expressed how families, estates or communities can use their refuse dumps to generate power and gas cookers.
Other experts including Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the oil and gas sectors reiterated the criticality of partnership. They also emphasised the place of mind-reengineering as the way forward to mitigating methane emissions in Nigeria.

Dr Soberekon Afiesimama, during his presentation on “Methane Abatement in Nigeria: A Call to Action”, said financial support for methane reduction projects, environmental education, research, regulatory measures, technological innovations, among others, are some of the collective actions that can be taken to abate methane emissions in Nigeria.

Speaking, Nimi Elele from the Department of Climate Change, Ministry of Environment, stated that going by the Sustainable Development Goal 17, partnership was very key in abating methane emissions in Nigeria.