Why Nigerians must reject coal as sources of generating electricity
During president Yar’Adua visit to China, he said the Chinese investor would be welcome in the power sector to generate electricity through coal, most people will see this as a welcome development, But how about the environmental impact of coal burning in term of climate change, coal releases excess CO2 into the atmosphere.

Electricity generation is one of the major sources of carbon dioxide emission, providing about one third of the total and Coal-fired generation gives rise to twice as much carbon dioxide as natural gas per unit of power at the point of use, but hydro, nuclear power and most renewable do not directly contribute any. If all the world’s nuclear power where replace by coal-fire power, electricity’s carbon dioxide emissions world rise by a third-about 2.5 billion tones per year. Conversely, there is scope for reducing coal’s carbon dioxide contribution by substituting natural gas or nuclear, and by improving the efficiency of coal-fire generation itself, a process which is well under way.

If the government wants to go ahead with the coal for electricity business, there is a need to adopt a clean technology, In the event that serious CO2 emission limitations are adopted, technological solutions will be needed to avoid CO2 emissions while the use of coal is continued.
My concern is: how should research and development efforts in CO2 capture technologies for the coal-fuelled electric power industry be prioritized and advanced? In this case what should be the role of the government and private industry? What decision making tools and structures can be used to ensure a rigorous and effective process, what should be done in the short term versus long term, how should risks reward be balanced, and ultimately, which technologies should be chosen and who should decide what these are?

Coal-fired generation in developed countries, with average 33% thermal efficiency. The difference is greater considering developing countries average 25% efficiency. Estimates of carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere in the next century all show substantial increases. Global emissions are expected to be about 50% higher in 2010 than in 1990. Adewole Taiwo, B.Sc. M.Sc. Environmental Resources Management (Nigeria)