The Punch reports that the Minister of State for the Environment, Mr. Ibrahim Jibril, has inaugurated the first plant for the production of high grade hydrocarbon refrigerants used in the refrigeration, manufacturing and related servicing sectors in the country. At the inauguration of the plant in Irolu, Ogun State, Jibril said the project was being implemented under the auspices of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, to which Nigeria is a party.
The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was designed to reduce the production and consumption of ozone depleting substances in order to reduce their abundance in the atmosphere, and thereby protect the earth’s fragile ozone Layer.
The original Montreal Protocol was agreed on September 16, 1987 and entered into force on January 1, 1989, and includes a unique adjustment provision that enables the parties to the protocol to respond quickly to new scientific information and agree to accelerate the reductions required on chemicals already covered by the Protocol.
The minister noted that it was a milestone in the global efforts to phase out the use of ozone depleting substances such as hydrochloroflurocarbons, a substance used in the refrigeration and air-conditioning sector, which has potent greenhouse and high global warming potential.
Jibril said:
“I think it is a significant milestone and its importance cannot be overemphasized. This project has so many facets, apart from attempting to make the country self-sufficient; it also creates a lot of employment opportunities, especially for those involved in the refrigeration business.
“It will also go a long way to reduce our foreign imports; even though this is a pilot project, it has the potential to grow into a bigger scale and we urge the local and international industrialists to come forward and invest in this technology. It has a lot of local content and anything that will not have to do with foreign exchange is a welcome development; the engineer who designed this has done a good job.”
Among the advantages of the plant are the availability of raw materials for producing HC refrigerants; availability of high grade HC refrigerants for use by the refrigeration and air-conditioning sector, and building of local capacity to produce energy efficient low global warming potential gases.
According to the minister, with assistance from the multilateral fund for the implementation of the protocol, the Federal Government is implementing Nigeria’s stage one of the hydrochloroflurocarbons phase out management plan, for which the fourth tranche has been completed. He said the first stage of implementation commenced in 2011 and should be completed by the end of this year.
“The hydrocarbon pilot project is one of the main components of the project and is designed to demonstrate the feasibility of replacing the current use of hydrochloroflurocarbon refrigerants in the refrigeration and air-conditioning sector,” he said.
Jibril added that the project would be followed by a well-structured training and certification programme for technicians in the refrigeration and air-conditioning sector nationwide on the safe use of the HC refrigerants.
He added that basic training and prevention measures to reduce hydrocarbon emission when carrying out regular maintenance services, hands-on training and use of HC refrigerants to operate domestic air-conditioning and refrigeration appliances, among other information, would be shared.
According to the minister, opportunities also exist for individuals and corporate organisations to make profit by helping the government to phase out hydrochloroflurocarbons. He added:
“We are looking forward to harnessing the product of the hydrocarbon plant, which is also known as butane, as a source of clean energy and an alternative to firewood mostly used by a percentage of the population. The use of LPG as the raw material for the hydrocarbon plant is also of great environmental benefit as it will lead to the reduction of gas flaring by our refineries.”
Jibril also said that the ministry would soon be involved in an articulated campaign in both the print and electronic media to sensitise the people to the fact that the issue of the environment was beyond the monthly exercise of cleaning the streets.
“We are aware of erosion in parts of the country. In the North, desertification is hitting us hard; and in the South, coastal erosion and deforestation are hitting us hard too. We must realise that harmful practices in the environment are not in our best interest and the world has been talking about conservation and we cannot do without conserving our environment,” he said.
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