Natural Gas as Transportation Fuel: Solution to National Carbon Dioxide Reduction and Fuel Related Issues in Nigeria
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This In this study, strategic substitution of natural
gas (NG) as transportation fuel in place of gasoline and diesel has
been proposed due to the volume of NG flared on daily basis and
its negative impacts on the micro-environment. Data on the
volumes of gas flared and quantities of gasoline and diesel
distributed from 2000 to 2014 used in this work were sourced
from bulletins published by Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation. Empirical formulae and standard conversions were
employed to estimate variables (carbon dioxide and cost benefits)
based on current price regimes and energy contents of the fuels.
The strategic utilization of NG - scenario 1 - (33% to 1% of
flared volume) and the baseline (actual situation in 2014) were
the two scenarios considered. Findings from this study revealed
that at 33% and 1% utilization of flared gas (11.30 x 109 m3),
CO2 released were 2.5 x 107 tons and 3.43 x 107 tons, as against
3.46 x 107 (scenario 1) and 3.42 x 107 tons emitted for the baseline
scenario, respectively. These values correspond to CO2 reduction
of 9.63 x 106 tons (27.79%) and 2.92 x 105 tons (0.84%), for 33%
and 1% NG utilization, respectively. Based on energy contents of
the fuels, NG as transport fuel is 60.7% and 62.5% cheaper than
gasoline and diesel, respectively. The implementation of strategic
NG substitution as transportation fuel proposed seems a lasting
solution to gas flaring, and petroleum products and their
associated problems in Nigeria.
Keywords
TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering, TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery