Should Nigeria care about renewable energy or an energy crisis?

Most Nigerians don’t believe the world is heading for an energy crisis. And why should they, after all, they have other things to worry about, like just plain living, or getting money to sustain their families. However, I believe the Nigerian economy is getting better, and Nigerians are living better, and will have more and more access to disposable income. Which brings us back to the issue at hand: is there a looming energy crisis ahead? There are only two times Nigerians consider the issue of energy: (1) when we run into our infamous times of fuel scarcity, and (2) when our wonderful friends at PHCN aka, NEPA, “take the light,” otherwise known as a power outage. Here’s why we should care about both of those.

1. Nigeria is one of the largest oil producing nations in the world and still, we export our oil to other countries, where the oil is refined into the finest quality petrol and then sold back to us at two or three times what we sold it to them for. Of course, while all this is happening, many foreigners and a few Nigerians are getting exorbitantly rich in the process. Add to that formula the artificial fuel scarcity that is created quarterly by the importers, and the wealth being made increases exponentially. And as long as there is money to be made, the crisis will remain. Perhaps we should start thinking about alternative fuels for our vehicles, or even start thinking about manufacturing our own vehicles which will use alternative fuels.

2. PHCN, or as the students are calling it now, “Problem Has Changed Names.” Also known as NEPA. For as long as I can remember, and that’s the majority of my 35 years, we have always had power problems in Nigeria. Let me ask you something. Would you want your children to grow up in a country where there are still NEPA outages and have them tell their children about it? I don’t know about you, but my answer is NO! In my case, that would have been a total of 70 or more years with NEPA problems. Businesses in Nigeria are having a problem running at a profit because they have to spend so much money on diesel, and in return, they have to increase their prices. Individuals can’t consider building a new home without buying a generator so that they’ll have light at night. The list of NEPA problems goes on.
So you see, when it comes energy problems in Nigeria, we are already experiencing an energy crisis. How this crisis will be solved, is completely up to us. That’s where you and I come in…along with www.biuenergy.org.

The Green Initiative I

Benson Idahosa University is going green. We only have one Earth and we want to do our best to take care of her, so we've worked hard to make our store more eco-friendly.

BIUs approach for building greener society

Providing Clean and Renewable Energy
Wind Farm Project
Energy conservation
Recycling: (waste-to-wealth program)
Reverse Vending machines
Plastic Recycling plant

Thoughts, comments or suggestions? We'd love to hear from you.
Please let us know what you think.

Introduction To RE

Renewable energy sources can be replenished in a short period of time. The five renewable sources used most often are:

• biomass
• water (hydropower),
• geothermal,
• wind,
• solar.

Many important events have occurred during the history of using renewable sources. The use of renewable energy is not new. Five generations (125 years) ago, wood supplied up to 90 percent of our energy needs. Due to the convenience and low prices of fossil fuels, wood use has fallen in the United States. Now, some biomass that would normally be taken to the dump is converted into electricity (e.g., manufacturing wastes, rice hulls, and black liquor from paper production).

Overall consumption from renewable sources in the United States totaled 6.8 quads (quadrillion Btu) in 2006, or about 7 percent of all energy used nationally. Consumption from renewable sources was at its highest point in 1997, at about 7.2 quads.

Historically, low fossil fuel prices, especially for natural gas, have made growth difficult for renewable fuels. A number of State and Federal Government incentives, including the Energy Policy Acts of 2002 and 2005, have encouraged the production and use of renewable fuels. Even with these incentives, the renewables share of the "energy pie" in the United States is not expected to change much over the next 25 years because we will also be using more non-renewable fuels. The use of renewable sources is also limited by the fact that they are not always available (for example, cloudy days reduce solar energy, calm days mean no wind blows to drive wind turbines, droughts reduce water availability to produce hydroelectricity). Despite these limitations, renewable energy plays an important role in the supply of energy. When renewable energy sources are used, the demand for fossil fuels is reduced. Unlike fossil fuels, most renewable sources do not directly emit greenhouse gases.

Each of the energy sources we use is measured, purchased, and sold in a different form. Many units of measurement are used to measure the energy we use each day. Learn more about converting energy units in the Units of Measurement section.

A Dream is Born

Way back when, on August. 28, 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial,Martin Luther King, Jr. gave this speech "I Have a Dream," ; it was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement.
Now It's the year 2008 and here in Nigeria a New dream is being born.......


"It's been a hectic day at work, I'm driving home 9pm along the well lit streets . I get home and hear the kids singing upstairs while having a hot bath before bed. I reach for a soda in the fridge, it's very cold and refreshing. After dinner I remember , there are some unsent emails on the office computer, I work remotely from the comfort of home uninterrupted with no power failure at both ends. I go to bed by midnight, knowing that by morning there will still be power to make toast for the kids, iron clothes,watch the AM news,... everything works"

In the near future hydrogen from water will produce electricity, at BIU Energy we are already thinking like that.....

The Benson Idahosa University Renewable Energy Project..
Building a sustainable future through renewable energy