However, inflation has been eating deep into the Nigeria economic market, driving the cost of food there up by nearly 26% over the last year.
Nigeria Has A Carbon Emission Problem
Fixing carbon emission hasn’t played out as a priority for the government agenda in Nigeria yet, as demonstrated by the increasing levels of carbon emissions there. Carbon dioxide emissions stem from the burning of fossil fuels. They include carbon dioxide produced during the consumption of solid, liquid and gas fuels and gas flaring. Nigeria’s carbon (CO2) emissions for 2018 was 130,670 kilotons (kt), a 15.72% increase from 2017.
Can Nigeria Take Advantage Of Renewable Energy Sources?
Nigeria has the required infrastructure, climate, expertise, as well as human capital to take advantage of renewable energy sources.
“In 2018, the share of energy derived from renewable energy sources in primary energy consumption amounted to around 75.4 percent in Nigeria,” according to Statista. “It is projected that the renewable energy share of total final energy consumption in Nigeria will reach 86.4 percent by 2025.”
Unexplored Energy Sources For Nigeria
Solar Energy: According to Solynta Energy, there is an average of 1,885 hours of sunlight per year, with an average of five hours and nine minutes of sunlight per day in Lagos. It is sunny for 43% of daylight hours there.
“Solar panels are known to work(although dependent on the design) with an average peak sunlight hour of 3.5 hrs,” per Solynta, thus indicating that solar power would be a feasible energy source in a Nigerian city like Laos.
Hydroelectric Energy: To my knowledge, the only major rivers that are being explored for hydroelectric power in Nigeria are the Kanji, Shiroro, Niger and Benue. According to recent research, 32 exploitable hydropower sites have been observed in Nigeria with a total installed capacity of 12.22 gigawatts (GW).
But Nigeria is bestowed with many rivers and natural falls that could favor the initiation of more hydropower systems.
Explored Energy Sources For Nigeria
Electricity in Nigeria is generated through thermal and hydropower sources. Most electricity generation in Nigeria comes from fossil fuels, particularly gas, which makes up 86% of the capacity in Nigeria, with the remainder generated from hydropower sources.
A consistent increase in carbon emissions in Nigeria is likely.
COMPANY
POWER TYPE
CAPACITY
Kanji Jebba Power Plc
Hydro
1,330 MW
Ugheli Power Plc
Gas
942 MW
Sapele Power Plc
Gas
1,020 MW
Shiroro Power Plc
Hydro
600 MW
Afam Power Plc
Gas
987.2 MW
Niger Delta Power Holding Company
Gas
5,455 MW
IPPs
Gas
1,392 MW
Egbin Power Plc
Gas
1,020 MW
Bitcoin Mining Powered By Renewable Energy Is The Future Of Nigeria
With the abundance of renewable energy sources in Nigeria, as explained above, Nigeria should consider mining Bitcoin with these energy sources.
Bitcoin ecosystem research released in January by the Bitcoin Mining Council stated that, in the fourth quarter of 2021, the worldwide Bitcoin mining sector was being powered by about 58.5% renewable energy. I believe that Nigeria shouldn’t be left out of this emerging market as it stands a chance of boosting its economy.
The mining data shows that a new hybrid model for Bitcoin mining has emerged. Bitcoin miners can easily buy energy from renewable energy providers when energy is abundant, or create a private structure and capital around generating electrical energy from green and renewable energies as part of their setup costs and implementation capital. In so doing, the miners are monetizing renewable assets that would have otherwise been dumped or ignored, while maintaining a generally high uptime and safe environment and contributing to the country’s economy.
Taking a look at an existing mining farm in Alberta, Canada, run by Hut 8 Mining, for example: The bitcoin generated from its first quarter 2022 mining rewards was 942 BTC. If similar mining farms were implemented across 36 locations in Nigeria — a reasonable number based on my research into locations where this would be feasible — that could yield some 33,912 BTC in one quarter if conditions were the same, worth about $712 million at the time of writing this.
Conclusion
Bitcoin being a deflationary currency which serves as the reward for mining makes it an investment source capable of boosting Nigeria’s internally-generated revenue with about $2.84 billion per year (based on the $712 million assumption from above, multiplied across four quarters), assuming the government taxed privately-owned Bitcoin mining farms.
But the mining farms must be powered by renewable and green energy sources such as solar energy and hydroelectric energy sources. This will be a perfect way of utilizing the possible electricity that could be generated from an average of 1,885 hours of sunlight per year in places like Laos. Hydroelectric power plants very frequently substitute power generation from fossil fuels, thus reducing issues like acid rain, carbon emissions and smog.
The unexplored, possible electrical energy that can be generated from hydro sources in Nigeria should be developed, and nation states with government-owned and privately-owned Bitcoin mining infrastructure, such as El Salvador, Canada and some parts of the United States, should be considered as reference points in this context.
This is a guest post by Heritage Falodun. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
