Gas Flaring

Impact of Gas Flaring on Nigerian Economy and its Environment

By

Gas Flaring1

Impact of Gas Flaring on Nigerian Economy and its Environment1

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION3

1.1.Background of the study3

1.2.Problem statement4

1.3.Significance of the study.4

1.4.Scope of the study5

1.5.Aim and objectives5

1.6.1.Research questions6

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW7

2.1. Health perspective7

2.2. Economic perspective8

2.3. Environmental perspective9

CHPATER 3: METHODOLOGY11

3.1. Research methodology11

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION13

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS13

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

Gas flaring can be defined as the use of a gas combustion device in industrial plants including per natural gas processing plants as well as at production sites of oil and gas. However, the gas flares are used to burn flammable gas in order to control the over pressuring of industrial equipments. However, it should be taken into account that excessive use of gas flares exerts a very negative impact on the natural environment. Nigeria is the second largest contributor of gas flaring after Russia. As of December 2011, Nigeria contributed about 11 of the total world gas flare. It should be noticed that every year, Nigerian industrial sector produces almost 17.2 billion m3 of natural gas in concurrence with the exploration of crude oil. The consequences of this gas flaring are extremely negative and exert a very negative impact on environmental health (ERA/FOE Nigeria Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, 2005). Moreover, it should be noticed that a variety of disease may arise due to the excessive use of gas flares in industrial sector. Although oil is considered as the crucial aspect of the industrial development Nevertheless, the link between the exploration and exploitation of oil is not clearly understood. Moreover, the consequences of gas flaring in terms of environmental damages, health issues as well as social and economic damages are not clear and need to be highlighted in order to reduce the green house emission as a result of gas flaring. The intention of the study is to highlight the consequences of gas flaring in the context of Nigerian economy as well as environment.

Problem statement

Sine gas has been used as a significant alternative source of energy in most of the areas of Africa including Nigeria in order to promote the development needs of those areas, It should be taken into account that in case of Nigeria, a huge amount of gas is wasted in the air that cause a variety of harmful disease as well as contributes in air pollution in terms of increased biomass. It is crucial to highlight that the wasted amount of gas due to the excessive use of gas flare in industrial sector of Nigeria can be used to meet the cooking needs of 30 million people that are deprived of modern fuel facilities (Nussbaumer, 2006). In addition to it, it has become crucial to focus on the integration of modern energy facilities at small scale level in order to strategically promote the sustainable development of rural areas. In addition to it, increasing health threats in rural areas due to the excessive use of gas flares in the industrial sector ...