A Dissertation Proposal Related To Renewable Energy In Nigeria

Question: Write on a dissertattion proposal related to renewable energy in nigeria? Answer: Introduction Solar energy can be measured as an important form of renewable energy. As the technologies those are in use produce no global warming gases. Solar energy provides anchor to hydro power. The hydrological cycle is controlled by sun. During the full moon or the solar eclipse helps to raise the water level and raise the flow of water to some extent. The wind power is controlled by sun as the movement of the air is a result of the heating effect by the sun on the atmosphere. This situation arises because of the wind of a region that got hotter and much lighter, i.e. pressure of the air in that region falls. Then the wind with less heat come in the place of hot wind and occupies the place with much speed. Thus it can be said that electrical energy, chemical energy and kinetic energy are derived from sun. But there is a technological limitation to the collection, distribution and the storage of solar energy. According to the recently published reports, there has been a reduction in installa tion of photovoltaic cells (SOLAR ENERGY POTENTIAL AND ITS DEVELOPMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY GENERATION IN NIGERIA: A ROAD MAP TO ACHIEVING THIS FEAT, 2014). It has been predicted that the PV cells will deliver more than 340 GW of energy by 2020. The huge number of installed PV cells is in Germany. Nigeria has to meet the energy demands of their country. They must explore the potential of the renewable energy sources. This will act as a supplement to the conventional sources of energy (Chineke, Nwofor and Okoro, 2010). Nigeria and the Middle Belt are sitting on an energy reserve which has massive potential (Coker, 2004). It is also becoming economically viable to use the renewable resources of energy. As a new technology and being able to process renewable energies (solar energy), it requires a huge lump of money. As these technologies are on demand due to its environment friendly usage and not harmful to incorporate, due to the no emission of global warming gases. It is important to make an in depth exploration of the energy potential in the region. The research paper identifies the use of solar energy (photo voltaic cells, Figure 1) as the potential source of energy at Maiduguri airport. The use of solar energy as an energy resource will be a sustainable energy source at the Maiduguri airport. Background of the research The researches took place at the Maiduguri airport in Nigeria. As it will become possible for me to collect the data regarding the energy supply at the airport because I work at the Nigerian Meteorological agency which is located near the airport. Thus it is possible for me to collect all the required data. The airport experienced power outage for a period of seven months from June 2014 to January 2015, during which generators were in use at the airport but they pollute the environment. Therefore Maiduguri airport has been chosen as an idea location to investigate the feasibility of implementing a renewable energy supply (solar energy). Research Aims The research aims and objectives will help to focus on the strategies for the adoption of the renewable energy in Nigeria. The following objectives will be achieved in the research. To determine the ultimate benefit behind the usage of electrical energy generation using solar energy in Nigeria. To determine the environmental facts that came across while adopting photovoltaic cells in Nigeria for the generation of electricity using solar energy. To identify the impact of utilization of solar energy for electricity generation at the Maiduguri airport. Literature review Nigeria is located in the West African region. It is situated within the longitudes of 3 to 14 degrees and the latitude is 4 to 140 degrees. Since Nigeria is situated above the equator, it receives abundant sunlight throughout the year. The daily duration of sunshine in Nigeria is 6.5 hrs. The total amount of solar energy received by the country is 4.851 * 1012 kWH. This amount of solar energy will be available for 26% of the day. The facts and figures regarding Nigeria indicate that Nigeria has the potential to generate electrical energy from solar energy (SOLAR ENERGY POTENTIAL AND ITS DEVELOPMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE ENERGY GENERATION IN NIGERIA: A ROAD MAP TO ACHIEVING THIS FEAT, 2014). The energy generated in Nigeria is not sufficient. Hence it is required to adopt the alternative sources or new technologies to incorporate energy technologies (renewable or sustainable energies). The electrical energy can be used for the Maiduguri airport in Nigeria. It will be a sustainable form of e nergy. As Photovoltaic cells are using the solar power and even there is no global warming emission is associated with the generation of electricity. Even solar power is endless. The venture will be successful with the pragmatic steps from the Government in developing policies and plans for utilization of solar energy in Nigeria (Oseni, 2011). Solar energy can be converted into renewable energy resource via two ways. One is using the photovoltaic material and the other is using thermal process of energy generation. The airport at Maiduguri can use the first process for electricity generation (Kalogirou, 2013). The entire process of conversion of the solar energy into power has been provided by the following diagram. Generation of Power using various sources of energy There are several ways of energy generation from renewable as well as from non renewable sources. In order to meet the steady power demand of the society, it is necessary to search for alternate energy a source which includes solar, thermal, wind etc. Among the all the other sources of non renewable energy, solar energy is considered as the potential source of energy for the reasons that is enumerated below Variable nature of Power output The power generated from solar energy is fairly constant. The generation of solar energy varies from day to night (O. Oji et al., 2012). Despite these factors, solar energy is an efficient source of energy. Solar energy can be used as a potential source of energy as it provides constant output. A significant amount of solar energy can be used for the generation of power (Mohammed et al., 2014). Pollution Like other developing countries in Africa, there is increase in the demand for electricity in Nigeria. The major source of generation of power is coal. The process of combustion of coal has led to pollution and destruction of the environment. The mining works has resulted in accumulation of dust in the air. This is creating enormous amount of pollution resulting in health hazards. Coal is considered as the main source of production of thermal energy. The mining industry has adverse impact on the tourism and the recreation industry. Thus the country has to recover from the situation. This can be achieved by using solar energy as the potential source of energy. The energy source will not create environmental hazards and the demands of energy can be easily met. Availability of resources Sun is the ultimate source of energy and there is fairly available solar energy that will drive the transducer in the circuit. There is no shortage of solar derived energy on Earth. The amount of solar energy that is intercepted on earth is greater than the amount of energy that is used by the world as fossil fuels each year. But a miniscule amount of the solar energy is used for power generation. Solar energy does not have to depend on any source unlike nuclear energy which depends on the availability of radioactive material. Solar energy will form a continuous source of energy (Worldwidescience.org, 2015). Generation of electrical energy from solar energy in Nigeria The energy supply in Nigeria is insufficient. Thus it is important to search for alternative sources of energy. There is significant amount of environmental degradation as a result of use of traditional energy resources. According to Nnaji and Unachukwe (2010) , abundant sunshine is received by Nigeria which could be available as solar energy if the solar appliances with 5% of conversion efficiency were used for only 1% of the total land area of the country. Oseni ( 2012) has presented a detailed analysis of the trends of energy in Nigeria between 2007 and 2008. The focus was on the search of renewable energy alternatives (Bugaje, 2006). According to him solar radiation of 5.5kWh per day and the recent improvement in the efficiency of PV panel it is possible to generate 190550GwH of electricity from solar energy in a year with the help of solar panels that will cover 1% of the entire land mass in Nigeria. It is also estimated that the demand for energy will continue to increase due t o the rise in the Nigerian population. Nigeria meets its energy demand by generating energy from fossil fuels but the secondary needs of energy of the country is met by the expensive imports. The energy demand from fossil fuel contributes to only 17.8% of the total energy consumption of the country (Droege, 2008). The flaring natural gas in Nigeria has resulted in serious environmental impact. A greater capacity of the country has been to address these issues that create pollution in the environment. Thus it is important to use supplements to crude oil so there is a balance of energy utilization in Nigeria (Fadare, 2009). Issues in using solar energy for generation of electricity Using solar energy as a potential source of energy has several benefits which includes low operational and cost of maintenance. The operation is noiseless and the PV panels are available in different sizes and modules with wide range of power rating (Chineke, Nwofor and Okoro, 2010). They are environment friendly source of energy with respect to release of green house gases, depletion of ozone layer. But there are several issues that arise in the generation of electricity from solar energy (Okoro and Madueme, 2004). Long energy payback time Sherwani et al. (2010) has carried a review of the life cycle assessment of the solar PV based generation of electricity. The variation in the generation of green house gases, energy payback time was dependent on various factors like the type of solar cell being used, efficiency of the components and orientation and angle of the solar panel. It is important to reduce the energy payback time of solar PV based generation of electricity by continuous improvement of the design that will facilitate the production of the PV cells (Mohammed et al., 2013). High capital cost High capital cost is required for the generation of electricity using solar energy. Investment in up gradation of technology has to be done by the Government and the giant companies for generating electricity using solar energy. It has already been implemented in countries like USA , China and Germany (Ogunleye, 2011). Element of Originality The research maintains its originality. There are numerous evidences which show that originality is maintained by the research. There are various evidences beyond the location in which the research is taking place that the elements of the research are authentic and reliable. The proposed research will be conducted in Nigeria. The implementation of renewable energy (PV cells) in Nigerian Maiduguri airport has been proposed. There has been no research on the implementation of renewable energy as potential source of electrical energy in Maiduguri airport in Nigeria. Now a day airports are very much concerned about the adoption of the solar technologies as there are so many unused lands are open to use. Photovoltaic system installation at airports generally cost a bit more than the other airports because of their distance from the system. There are various financing mechanisms are available to facilitate the installation of the PV system. The FAA does the inspection on the aspects of Ame rican civil aviation. FAA headquarters are involved only when the project plans for Photovoltaic cells require some additional resources or presents some complex problem. Proposed program of work In order to achieve the first objectives of the research, it is needed to take a deep insight into the widely available literatures. The data from various publications will be used. Other relevant information will be gathered from the academic articles. The second objective will be achieved by determination of the environmental impact of photovoltaic cells in the electricity generation in Maiduguri airport in Nigeria. As far as the impacts are concerned, depending on the location a large scale of solar facilities can raise the concern about the habitant loss and land degradation. The Solar PV cells do not involve water to generate electricity. Photovoltaic cell manufacturing processes include a number of hazardous materials those are mostly use for the purification of the semiconductor surface. While there is no emission of global warming gases while generating electricity using solar energy, still other stages associated with solar life cycle do emit the global warming gases. Most of the estimates of on the emission of photovoltaic systems are between 0.07 to 0.08 pounds of Carbon dioxide that is equivalent to kilowatt per hour. Impact of photovoltaic cells in the electricity generation in Maiduguri airport in Nigeria can be achiev ed by collecting primary information from structured interviews with the people working the Nigerian Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy. The outcome from the interview will be compared with traditional power plants. The third objective will identify the issues related to use of photovoltaic power. This will be achieved by collection of primary and secondary data from interviewing people working in the field of renewable energy in Nigeria. Collection of relevant literature in this regard will be collected. A Gantt chart has been organized in order to ensure that there is smooth working development on the project. Task Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 6 Month 7 Month 8 Aims and Objectives of Research Research of literature Drafting the research Feedback on literature Draft on the Introduction chapter Collection of data Comparison of data and analysis Draft on discussion of data Finalization of draft for the chapters Feedback on the final draft of the project