BIOFUEL PRODUCTION IN NIGERIA: CHALLENGES AND

PROSPECTS

BYBELEWU, M.A (Ph.D)

UNIVERSITY OF ILORINNIGERIA

 Paper presented at the 12th National / International

Conference of the Students’ Chemical Society of Nigeria—Fountain University, Oshogbo, Osun State,

Nigeria on the 30th June , 2011.

INTRODUCTION Biofuels in Nigeria offer a great

opportunity for the production of new cash crops for internal consumption and for export. The increase production could be felt mostly in the rural areas as resources will be shifted from traditional crops while prices for all agricultural commodities are increase.

WHAT IS BIOFUEL ? Biofuel /Biodiesel is commonly

defined as “renewable energy produced from biological materials / biomass (sugar cane , corn, cellulose, vegetable oil etc)

Biofuels are fuel that are degradable and non toxic 

Biofuels refer also to any solid, liquid or gas fuel that has been derived from biomass

CONTD Biofuels could include biobuthanol

(biogasoline) and biodiesel as well as other fuel made from biomass and use for automotives , thermal and power generation according to specification stipulated by Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and any other competent government agency ( Nigerian Biofuel Policy,2010).

TYPES OF BIOFUELS

Liquid Biofuel --------Biodiesel

Gaseous Biofuel-------Ethanol

Solid Biofuel----------wood, saw dust , grass cutting, domestic refuse, charcoal, agricultural wastes, non food energy crops e.g Jatropha plant

DIFFERENT GENERATIONS OF BIOFUELS

There are different generations of biofuels thus :

First Generation of Biofuel Fuel made from sugar cane/ vegetable oil,

animal fats using advanced TechnologySecond Generation of BiofuelBiofuel produced from sustainable

feedstockIt focused on biomass to liquid technology

including cellulosic biofuels and non food crops –Jatropha plant

Jatropha curcas

JATROPHA NURSERY AND SEED BEDS

It includes biofuel from algae. It produces 30 times more energy than soybean

Third Generation of Biofuel

It focused on the conversion of biodiesel to gasoline

Fourth Generation of Biofuel

Biomass means agriculturally produced raw materials which are available on renewable / recurring basis.

It include tree crops, plant fibre , cellulose based materials, industrial wastes and other biodegradable parts of municipal solid waste (Nigeria Biofuel Policy Development and Incentives, 2010)

Biomass could also be defined as biological materials obtained from living or recently living organisms

It could also be plant materials grown to generate electricity/ produce heat

Biomass could be converted into other useful forms of energy—methane gas/ transportation fuels----like ethanol/biodiesel

WHAT IS BIOMASS ?

It includes:Wood ---- It is a typical source of biomass

Corn/MaizeSugar caneSoybean

SOURCES OF BIOMASS

It refers to a vegetable oil/ animal fat based diesel fuel obtained by chemically reacting liquids (vegetable oil, animal fat ) with alcohol through the process of transesterification

WHAT IS BIODIESEL ?

Soybean oil Rape seed oil Mustard oil Sunflower oil Palm oil Coconut oil Waste vegetable oil Animal fat By- products of Omega 3 fatty acids from

fish oil Algae Oil from Halophytes e.g. Salicornia bigelovii

VARIETY OF OIL USED TO PRODUCE BIODIESEL

Sugar cane CassavaSugar beetCornOther sugar/starch crops etc

Variety of Crop used for Ethanol Production

It has better lubricating properties and much higher cetane ratings

It reduces fuel system wear Calorific value is about 37.27MJ/kg

which is 90% lower than petrol diesel It gives complete combustion thus

increasing the engine energy output and partially compensating for the higher energy density of petrol-diesel

It has no sulphur content

MERITS OF BIODIESEL

Its flash point is 1500c ( temperature of ignition)

It is less flammable than petrol-diesel and burn at 500C

It loose viscosity- (gel ) at lower temperature when compared to petro-diesel

Biodiesel can be blended with conventional diesel in any concentration

Jatropha oil is 10 times higher than that of maize and soybean

Jatropha nuts could provide up to 1,650 liters of high quality biodiesel /hectare

MERITS OF BIODIESEL (Contd)

Biodiesel can be used alone / blended with petrol-diesel in standard diesel engine

In Nigeria , the recommendation was blending of up to 10% of fuel ethanol with gasoline (10% ethanol plus 90% petroleum)…….known as E-10

In USA/UK a blending of 15% ethanol plus 85% petroleum is recommended

Also, 20% ethanol plus 80% petroleum is recognized

BLENDING OF BIODIESEL/ ETHANOL WITH PETROL-DIESEL

In Nigeria , up to 20% biodiesel with petroldiesel was recommended ….known as B-20

  In USA/UK, 100% biodiesel ------known as

B100 was achieved   20% biodiesel with 80% petro-diesel ---B20

etc   10% biodiesel with 90 petrol diesel---B10

Biodiesel mixing

University of Ilorin in 2010 used a blend of 50:50 (Biodiesel plus petroldiesel) to power a milling machine during an International workshop on Jatropha curcas held in April, 2010

PRACTICAL USES OF BIODIESEL

Milling machine powered by Jatropha biodiesel at Unilorin 2010

British Train Operating Company (Virgin Trains ) claimed to have run the world first biodiesel train using 80% petroldiesel with 20% biodiesel

Royal train in 2007 completed its first ever journey on 100% biodiesel fuel

I n Czech, a jet was completely powered on bidiesel

CONTD

Reduction of Green House Gas emission as compared to the fossil fuel e.g. Jatropha plant ( A plant can absorbed 8kg of carbondioxide per tree/year, hence if there are 2500 stands of trees per hectare ---about 20,000kg of carbondioxide will be absorbed/year

The biodiesel which is environmentally friendly than fossil fuel is smokeless , carbon neutral and ecologically sound

It saves drivers money--- United Kingdom government introduced many incentives to drivers of green cars based on emission ----with reduced taxation which depends on how environmentally your car is.

MERITS OF BIOFUEL

With increasing prices of petrol, mixing biodiesel with fossil fuel also offers great saving at the pump in the long run when biodiesel is readily available

There is additional tax revenue for the Government from economic activities of such industry

Biofuel has the ability of uplifting many people from poverty to financial independence, from despair to respect and from unemployment to business owners

Bbiofuel will reduce dependence on fossil fuel Biofuel provides better lubrication and with fewer

residues in the engine after its burning

MERITS OF BIOFUEL (Contd)

Biofuel is completely biodegradable Better utilization of undulated

cultivable land Higher income from sales of glycerin to

industry Less generation period of Jatropha

plant compared to other non edible crops

Long life span (40-50 years) Wider market for biofuel

MERITS OF BIOFUEL (Contd)

Jatropha plant is non edible compared to other crops

Opportunity of having carbon credit value (Kyoto protocol)

Biodiesel gives you bigger boom with more power

It was reported that a car on biodiesel could run at 27 miles /gallon

Provision of new income and new opportunity for farmers

Higher income of by-products –glycerin for industrial purpose

Poverty reduction potentials

MERITS OF BIOFUEL (Contd)

Biodiversity --- It was argued that natural habitats will be lost for wild animals and plants

Food vs Fuel ------ That farmers might loose focus of food production if fuel plants are lucrative

Less food production may lead to high price of food stuffs resulting in inflation

Inclement weather condition It could lead to deforestation There could be variable output and oil content Political problems (Inconsistent government

policies)

CONCERNS ABOUT BIOFUELS

Technical problems (from harvesting to production) Resource constraints Lack of public awareness Protectionism ---In form of import tarrifs and other

barriers that hinders biofuel trades Integration of biofuel into fuel supply chain Lack of international agreement on fuel quality

standards Many oil companies have been resistant to the

blending of biofuel with their products More land is needed for the growth of biofuel

plants as resource for biofuel

CONCERNS ABOUT BIOFUELS

It is noteworthy that first generation biofuels are not sustainable

Hence it is necessary to create sustainable biofuel production with no effect on food production and environment.

The most common strategy is to grow plants that could produce oil naturally e.g. oil palm, Jatropha plant, soybean, algae

An enabling environment must be created by the government for all players in the industry

SUSTAINABLILTY OF BIOFUEL PRODUCTION

When the oil is heated , the resistance / viscosity is reduced

The oil must be burnt with diesel engine The oil can be processed into biodiesel It was found that by 2020, about 19

million tons of oil equivalent would be derived from biomass

Additionally, between 2000 and 2005 ethanol production has doubled while biodiesel production was quadrupled hence biofuels are rising.

CONTD

It interesting to note that there exists a large potential of bioenergy production in many countries of the world that are yet to be tapped.

Hence production and utilization of biofuel in Nigeria can potentially help solve the economic, social and environmental problems, if appropriate policies and related institutional and technological innovations are promoted.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

Jatropha oil

Jatropha Biodiesel

Pix showing participants at the conference on Jatropha curcas (University of Ilorin, Nigeria)

Scientific session at the Conference

THANK YOU FOR YOUR

ATTENTION

MERCI BEAUCOUP