Energy Production and Environmental Concerns in Nigeria: The Case of Kaduna Petroleum Refinery on its Host Community

Energy production and environmental pollution has been a topic of interest to diverse groups especially in developing nations where stringent environmental measures are not observed. This work aimed at exploring the various issues associated with a petroleum Refinery in kaduna metropolis of Nigeria. The Refinery was established last 30 years and without the mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). This therefore generated environmental stress to the host ecosystem and is causing serious concerns to the host community. The research work has used both Questionnaire survey and laboratory analysis of some selected parameters with the view to finding the factual condition of the ecosystem, so that the opposing claims of both the host community of Rido and that of the petroleum Refinery could be verified to know which one is correct. Samples of Soil, water and air were analyzed amongst others, the results indicated high concentration of heavy metals in both water and soil samples. The air sample also revealed high concentration of both oxides of Nitrogen and Sulfur. These findings and the others were compared to the WHO standards and were found to be above the maximum allowable levels for savanna ecosystem. The result was also corroborated by the findings from the medical and ecological studies which confirmed high degree of pollution related ailments and environmental stress of the surrounding species of flora and fauna. It was therefore recommended that bio-remediation and clean-up of contamination should be implemented together with adequate compensation for the host community of the Rido region., Keywords: Energy, Pollution, Ecosystem, Contamination, Refinery, Petroleu

Domestic Energy Crisis and Deforestation Challenges in Nigeria.

The energy crises confronting Nigeria is well known, what however remain unclear to many is the relationship between the energy crises and the continuous depletion of Nigeria's forests resources; despite the warning of the United Nations' FAO that Nigeria accounts for the highest deforestation rate (55.7%) in the world's primary forest. This paper attempted an overview of the Nigeria's deforestation menace from the standpoint of the country's domestic energy crisis. It has identified the various causes of deforestation and concluded that none is more pervasive like that of fuelwood harvesting. The paper has therefore pointed out the potentials of exploiting other renewable energy resources of Hydro, Solar, Wind and Biofuels in place of fuelwood; with the view to removing the present pressure on Nigeria's primary forest for fuelwood as the mainstay of domestic cooking energy. Keywords: Energy, Deforestation, Fuelwood, Renewables, Desertification, Savanna

AN ASSESSMENT OF NIGERIA’S PREPAREDNESS TO ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTERS FROM ITS COMMITMENT TO INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL TREATIES

Environmental disasters are events that do not give notice to it's occurrence but are tackled through careful planning and execution of contingency measures. The flood disaster of 2012 in Nigeria have revealed several challenges regarding the nations disaster preparedness, the need to strengthen Nigeria's Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) mechanism is therefore particularly timely. This paper was an attempt to review the Nigeria's disaster preparedness through assessment of the country's commitment to the international instruments of environmental management as contained in several treaties and agreements. The review has indicated a general trend of accepting such instrument through the country's ratification of them, but with little efforts at it's domestications and setting of the necessary structures for its implementation. The research found out that this administrative setback is hampering Nigeria from being fully prepared for eventualities of extreme environmental events; especially as occasioned by climate change. Many recommendations were made for institutional, policy and attitudinal adjustments to forestall calamities and quantum destructions resulting from environmental disasters

Wind reduction patterns around isolated biomass for wind erosion control in a desertified area of Central Sudan

The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of sparse vegetation, feature common in arid zone, to reduce wind force (velocity) and hence protect the surface and regions downwind from drifting sand and their consequences. Respectively 4 (with heights h of 4, 3.2, 2 and 1.66 m), 2 (with h of 3 and 2.5 m) and 3 (with h of 1.04, 0.9 and 0.8 m ) well established single biomass configurations of Leptadenia pyrotechnica trees, Prosopis juliflora trees and Panicum turgidum grass, were selected in the field. Solar powered cup anemometer wind measurements with a data logger system were taken at heights of 0.25 and 0.5 h, at distances 0.5 and 1 h, at four sides of the tree in the prevailing wind direction and perpendicular to it, and additionally at 2, 4 and 6 h windward and leeward. The protection effectiveness of the biomass was calculated as a wind reduction ratio and in terms of objects protection, which was evaluated using the dimensionless protection index (É). The study showed that windward protection provided by Leptadenia and Prosopis at level 0.25h and distance 0.5 h was similar, w ith a wind reduction ratio R0.8, while Panicum showed comparably higher R-values. Even at the 0.5 h level, Panicum showed an R of 0.65 at 0.5 h distance. Leew ard, at 0.25 h level differences were small, R increasing from 0.6/0.7 to 0.8/1 with distance, Leptadenia protecting best. At higher level (0.5 h) at distances 0.5 and 1 h Prosopis gave better protection than the other two at distances 0.5, 1 and 2 h. The research is an exam ple of simple experimental work under difficult environmental conditions in Africa. It was part of studies in which additional attention was paid to quantification aspects under such conditions as well as to the problems it helped solve in the African societies concerned as agrometeorological service

Assessment of Wind Energy Alternative in Nigeria from the Lessons of the Katsina Wind Farm

The harnessing of kinetic energy through the wind has been used for centuries, be it in form of powering sail boats, windmills or furnaces. However it was not until 1979 that the modern wind power industry began in earnest with the production of wind turbines. The use of wind energy as a form of renewable energy gained momentum in the 80s and 90s and there are now thousands of wind turbines operating all over the world (Abdelaziz et al 2011; Fangbele et al 2011). The modern and most commonly used wind turbine has a horizontal axis with two or more aero-dynamic blades mounted on the shaft. These blades can travel at over several times the wind speed, generating electricity which is captured by a medium voltage power collection system and fed through to the power transmission network. Wind farms can range from single turbines for domestic use, through to large commercial farm either onshore or off-shore. The energy emitted is measured in watts per hour (kilowatts, megawatts and gigawatts), the turbines currently in manufacture have power ratings ranging from 250kW to 5MW. To put that into perspective, a 10kW turbine will generate enough electricity generation to meet the annual electricity consumption of an average house hold in the US or 10 rural villages in Nigeria. Regardless of the size of the farm, the placement of the turbine is the key to its success. Wind farms are often opposed and refused planning permission, due to general belief that they ruin the natural environment; in very remote locations, there may be a lack of available transmission lines, protected fauna that may be displaced by the farm, not to mention the difficulties in transporting the turbines to the site in the first instance. Despite its setbacks, wind power is still seen to be cheap, low maintenance form of renewable energy which makes it imperative for Nigeria to adopt among its energy mix (Kwon 2010). The study area  is in Katsina State of Nigeria. Katsina State extends from the arid southern Sahara (where there are important towns such as Jibiya, Katsina, Maiadua and Daura), Southwards through the semi-arid dry lands (with important towns like Dutsin-ma and Kankia) to the semi-arid savannah (with important towns like Malunfashi and Funtua). These settlements mentioned could be placed on an effective wind energy alternative for domestic electricity generation. The Katsina wind project could achieve this but there are several misgivings from the critics of the project. This chapter is intended to review the factors considered necessary in setting such a project i.e project’s cost, wind penetration, wind predictability, wind reliability and energy storage. The objective of the research was to assess the extent at which these factors were considered in the project

Application of quality function deployment to design a liquefied petroleum gas trolley

In Malaysia, the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is widely used for domestic purposes. The delivery men who are in charge of delivering the LPG cylinders to the customers are exposed to the ergonomic risk factors associated with excessive force due to the heavy steel cylinders. There are devices used to assist the delivery task, however, the devices are not efficient to be used in non elevated apartments. Due to this reason, this study aims to design an LPG cylinder trolley. Quality Function Deployment was integrated to design the LPG cylinder trolley, so that it can fulfill the delivery man's requirements, thus, an effective device to assist the delivery task is produced. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that the integration of QFD is an effective solution in designing an effective LPG cylinder trolley

Transmission and Scanning Electron Microscopic Studies in Diseases of the Liver

Abstract Not Provided

Promoting Positive Behaviors Among the Lower Primary School Students

The present study aimed to explore the role of family and school in promoting positive behaviors among the lower primary school students enrolled in the American Community School. It aimed to identify the methods of promoting positive behaviors among those students from the perspective of school principals, teachers, parents, and the lower primary school students.  It was found that the (responsive classroom) approach is adopted by the American Community School for promoting positive behaviors among the lower primary school students. Adopting this approach enables teachers to create a positive environment in the whole school in general and classrooms in particular. It has a positive impact on students’ academic achievement and self-discipline. It participates in delivering education of high quality. Based on the latter approach, it’s very important to develop students’ social-emotional skills. Such skills include: (taking responsibility, respecting others’ opinions and self-confidence). Based on the latter approach, it’s very important to develop students’ cognitive-academic skills and promote knowledge about the teaching methods. Based on the latter approach, cognitive development occurs through social interaction. This approach can be adopted for promoting positive behaviors among the lower primary school students.The researchers recommend adopting the (responsive classroom) approach for promoting positive behaviors among the lower primary school students. They recommend providing more attention to the provision of training courses for teachers and parents about the methods of promoting positive behaviors among the lower primary school students.  They recommend conducting similar studies that target other school stages, such as: the secondary stage. Keywords: Positive Behaviors, the Lower Primary School Students DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-8-12 Publication date:March 31st 202

The Reality of the role of Jordanian Universities In Promoting Moderate Ideologies among Students Based on Amman Message

The present study aimed to explore the reality of the role of Jordanian universities in promoting moderate ideologies among students based on Amman Message from the students’ perspective. It aimed to explore whether there is any significant difference between the respondents’ attitudes which can be attributed to gender, faculty, university, academic year, program and GPA. The sample consists from 400 students. Those students were selected from the University of Jordan, Yarmouk University, and Mu’tah University. A questionnaire was developed. It consists from 40 items. It sheds a light on 4 areas. These areas are: (faculty members, students, student union, and university activities). It was found that Jordanian universities play a moderate role in promoting moderate ideologies among students based on Amman Message from the. That’s because the overall mean is 3.41 which is moderate. The mean of the (faculty member) area is 3.48. It’s moderate and ranked first. The mean of the (student) area is 3.45. It’s moderate and ranked second. The mean of the (student union) is 3.39. It’s moderate and ranked third. The mean of the (university activity) area is 3.32. It’s moderate and ranked last. It was found that there is a significant difference between the respondents’ attitude which can be attributed to faculty. The latter difference is for the favour of the ones enrolled in human sciences faculties. It was found that there is a significant difference between the respondents’ attitude which can be attributed to university. The latter difference is for the favour of the ones enrolled in the University of Jordan. It was found that there is a significant difference between the respondents’ attitude which can be attributed to academic year. The latter difference is for the favour of the freshmen. It was found that there is a significant difference between the respondents’ attitude which can be attributed to GPA. The latter difference is for the favour of the ones whose rating is (very good). It was found that there isn’t any significant difference between the respondents’ attitude which can be attributed to gender or program. The researchers recommend promoting moderate ideologies among students. They recommend promoting awareness among students about awareness among students about the significance of moderate ideologies. They recommend fighting against extremist ideologies. They recommend carrying out activities to promote moderate ideologies among students. They recommend moderate ideologies among students through the student union. That shall contribute to the development of balanced personalities DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-20-09 Publication date:July 31st 202