An energy expert, Mr. Quadri Fatai, has advocated winding down of diesel-powered engines in the country in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) and fugitive methane emissions by 60 per cent.
Fatai, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Alfa Design Nigeria Limited, who gave the advice on Monday, May 12, 2025, in an interview, noted that converting diesel-powered engines to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) or transiting to alternative cleaner/greener energy and technology would stop carbon soot being emitted by diesel engines and guarantee energy security.
He said that the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) guidelines on GHG emissions were aimed at reducing environmental and social impact, caused by the emissions of components of natural gas including methane and other compounds.
The expert explained that embracing cleaner technology would help to mitigate carbon output, especially carbon soot being emitted by a fuel engine, contributing majorly to environmental pollution and health hazards.
”As it is now, we are supposed to be winding down on all diesel-powered engines in the country based on the GHG emissions statement.
”Nigerian government had already pledged that by 2030 we are going to cut down our methane emissions, and we are going to stop flaring completely and also do away with carbon soot formation, a bye-product from diesel-fired engines.
”We have to do away with all these things because they normally absorb infrared radiation that comes from the outer space. Once they absorb it, they keep the earth warmer than what is anticipated.
”And that’s the effect on the climate change,’’ he said.
Fatai also explained that in view of high cost of diesel and the abundance of an alternative energy (gas) in the country, there was need to be economically wise and encourage usage of CNG.
”But staring us in our face is a solution of an alternative that all of us are supposed to come out and really agitate to see how this can be implemented as soon as possible to reduce impact, ” he said.
He added that in the bid to promote cleaner and affordable energy in the country, the Alfa design limited, a leading oil and gas company would soon begin conversion of diesel-powered engines to CNG in the country.
Nigeria signed on to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change in Sept. 2016; and, consequently, began the implementation of several initiatives aimed at reducing emissions from all sectors of the economy.
As part of Nigeria’s commitment on the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement, in 2021, it committed to reducing GHG emissions by 47 per cent in 2030, conditional on international support.
The pledge followed the signing into law of the country’s first climate bill after the UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP26) in Glasgow in 2021, having set an ambitious global net zero targets by 2060.
To achieve Nigeria’s emission reduction targets of the NDCs, the key abatement measures are: elimination of routine gas flaring (100 per cent gas flaring eliminated by 2030) and fugitive emissions/leakages control (60 per cent Methane Reduction by 2030).
These measures were established under the NUPRC operators’ guidelines on the actions and mechanisms for the management of fugitive methane/GHG emissions from the upstream oil and gas operations.
By Emmanuella Anokam