Work, food, rent, television: The role of lifestyles and experiences on household energy behaviour in rural Lagos, Nigeria

Human engagement with modern energy services is foundational to social and economic welfare, as is their disengagement with welfare inhibiting traditional energy services. With modern energy access often leading to the stacked use of modern and traditional energy services, there is a need to understand the drivers and determinants of the energy decision-making of the energy poor. This study draws on 83 semi-structured in-depth interviews with 67 energy poor households in rural Lagos to explore what their lived realities reveal about the nature of their energy decision-making. We observe three important drivers behind household decision to consistently engage with a fuel-technology combination in practice: their organisation of daily life and by extension their vocational activity, the urgency of operating the service, and experience with and exposure to an energy service. Findings suggest that if traditional energy services are to be displaced, then in addition to using modern energy services to develop people’s lives, we need to develop people’s lives to use modern energy services

Heavy metal contamination of groundwater resources in a Nigerian urban settlement

The aim of the study was to create awareness on the effect of dumpsite on groundwater in developing countries, especially Nigeria. In order to achieve this, water samples were obtained from 20 randomly selected hand dug wells and boreholes in the area, in February and August, 2006. 10 leachates samples were also obtained from the dumpsite. From these samples, pH and conductivity were determined using a pH/conductivity meter (Jenway model), while the concentrations of the heavy metals (Co, Fe, Pb and Cu) were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). The trend of dispersion of each variable was demonstrated on Landsat ETM+ (2006) imagery using Erdas Imagine and ArcView GIS software. The study showed that the groundwater in the study area were generally alkaline (8.3 ±2.77) and contained Cu (0.02 ± 0.04 mg/l), Fe (4.23 ± 6.4 mg/l), Pb (2.4 ± 3.3 mg/l) and Co (1.03 ± 1.1 mg/l) concentrations that are higher than the permissible limits recommended by the World Health Organization (0.5, 0.1, 0.01 and 0.0002 mg/l, respectively; p > 0.05). The study concluded that the groundwater sources within 2 km radius of a major landfill will be vulnerable to the effect of landfill, if they are not adequately protected

Spatio-temporal analysis of wetland change in Port Harcourt Metropolis

The study assessed changes of wetland in Port Harcourt Metropolis using geo-information techniques between 1984 and 2015. Landsat images of 1984, 2000 and 2015 of 30m x 30m resolution were used. Supervised classification was used for image classification using Maximum Likelihood Algorithm in Erdas Imagine 9.1 whereby five major landuse classes were identified namely thick vegetation, built up area, farmland/sparse vegetation, wetlands and waterbodies. Areas in squared kilometers of each landuse were calculated in ArcGIS 9.3 and simple arithmetic was used to compute the percentage change. Probability of landuse change in the next 10, 20 and 30 years was determined in Idrisi Selva 17.0 using Markovian Transition Estimator. Descriptive statistics were employed for data analysis. Finding shows that wetlands decreased from 150.17km2 to 42.70km2 (-87.5%) between 1984 and 2015. Thick vegetation and waterbodies decreased by 35.6% and 41.48% respectively while built up area increased from 81.63km2 to 205.89km2 between 1984 and 2015. Wetland had 13.51%, 23.75% and 32.88% chance of changing to built up area in the next 10, 20 and 30 years respectively. The study recommended that farming and construction activities diminishing the wetland should be carefully done.Keywords: Geo-information, Landsat Imagery, Landuse, Farming, Constructio

Remote Sensing and River Basin Management: An Expository Review with Special Reference to Southwest Nigeria

This chapter is part of the focus on the development in river basin management, and its specific objective is to provide an expository review of drainage basin morphometry and the relevance of remote sensing technology, especially for locations in developing countries, where sophisticated remote sensing technology are either expensive or challenged by limited professionals. The chapter is divided into six subsections, treating issues on remote sensing, drainage density and presenting specific case study, among others. The study reveals that remote sensing technology is efficient for providing decision support system for both gauged and ungauged river basins, and that freely available remote sensing data can efficiently fill the data gaps in many developing countries. It however warned on the need to consider variations in sensors capacity and mission as important attributes that can generate different spatial radiometric issues which may negatively affect the quality of the results. It concluded that researchers on drainage basin analysis in developing countries will benefit immensely from the freely available remote sensing data in the region

Mapping and Assessment of Ethno-Medicinal Trees in Built Up Areas - University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Background and Purpose: Several urban tree species are important in ethno-medicine, especially in the developing tropical regions. Their assessment in urban landscapes is becoming an important issue. The study assessed and mapped the ethno-medicinal trees in the built up area land use type of the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, with a view to examining their spatial variation in terms of composition and diversity between the residential and non-residential areas of the University Park. Materials and Methods: The study employed the use of geographic information system (ArcGIS 9.3) for the mapping. Built up area land use was subdivided into residential and non-residential where the ethno-medicinal trees were recorded, identified and enumerated. Global positioning system was used to determine the coordinates of each tree. The species composition and diversity were calculated and a comparison was made between the residential and non- residential land use types. The pattern of spread of the ethno-medicinal trees was determined by the nearest neighbour analysis. Results: A total of 37 ethno-medicinal trees species were found in the study area, while the species composition was 499 in the residential area and 438 in the non-residential area. Azadirachta indica was the highest (233) in composition. Ethno-medicinal tree species in the study area consist of 19 families of which Anacardiaceae, Rutaceae, Moraceae and Combretaceae were the highest. Species diversity was higher in the non-residential land use (2.698) than in the residential land use (2.222). Conclusion: The nearest neighbour analysis reveals that the z-score value was higher in the non-residential area (-23.06) than in the residential area (-0.30), but the pattern of distribution in both areas were clustered. The study recommended periodic monitoring and the assessment of ethno-medicinal trees in the study area for conservation purposes

Groundwater Quality Assessment and Monitoring Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

The study evaluated the spatial variation of groundwater parameters in Port Harcourt metropolis using GIS. Thirty two (32) water samples were collected from boreholes from different parts of the study area into a treated and well labeled 1.5 litres plastic bootle. The water samples were then subjected to laboratory analysis for temperature, pH, Calcium (Ca2+), Chloride (Cl-), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Nitrate (NO3-), Sulphate (SO42-), Sodium (Na+), Potassium (K+), Magnesium (Mg2+), Electrical Conductivity (EC), Salinity, and bicarbonate (HCO3-). Global Positioning System (GPS) was used to record the latitudes and longitudes of the sampled boreholes. The result from the laboratory was subjected to descriptive statistical analysis in order to determine the mean, range and standard error of each parameter with the use of SPSS. Thereafter the result was imported to ArcGIS to generate the spatial variability maps for some groundwater parameters through the use of kriging in geostatistic module. Surfer 8 was used to generate the 2D and 3D representation of the borehole depths while Idrisi for windows was used to generate the relationship between borehole depth and pH ; and borehole depth and Ca. The result showed that Cl had the highest concentration among the anions with a mean value of 161.49 mg/l and Ca had the highest concentration among the cations with a mean value of 6.53 mg/l. The mean values of the all the groundwater parameters were lower than the WHO standard. Moderately weak inverse relationship was observed between the borehole depth and groundwater pH concentration; and between borehole depth and groundwater calcium concentration. It is recommended that the use of GIS should be encouraged to periodically monitor and assess groundwater quality. Keywords: Borehole, Groundwater, GIS, Geostatistics, Port Harcour

Extent of forest depletion from 1986-2015 as a consequence of land use in Andoni Local Government Areas of Rivers State, Nigeria

The study investigated the extent of forest depletion between 1986 and 2015 in Andoni LGA, Rivers State, Nigeria. Landsat images of 1986, 2000 and 2015 were employed for the study. Image classifications were done in Erdas Imagine using supervised classification with maximum likelihood module whereby six major classes of landuse were identified namely forest, built up area, waterbodies, mangrove, cultivated land, and bareground/sand. The area in square kilometers of each land use type in each year was computed in ArcGIS 10.0 and simple calculations were used to compute the change and percentage change of each landuse from one period to the other. Landuse probability of change to other landuse in 2025, 2035 and 2045 were done Idrisi Selva 17.0. Findings showed that forest coverage was 125.95 km2 (39.56%) in 1986 and 74.14 km2 (23.29%) in 2015. Forest, cultivated land, and waterbodies decreased by 41.14%, 80.8% and 76.52% while built up area, mangrove and bareground/sand increased by 303.64%, 18.67% and 3.64% from 1986 to 2015. Bareground/sand and built-up areas replaced forest with 21.23 km2 (38.40%) and 20.26km2 (3.64%) respectively. The study predicted that 3.68% of bareground/sand, 0.47% of mangrove and 3.51% of built up area had probability of replacing forest by 2025 while 5.09%, 2.1% and 7.32% of bareground/sand, mangrove and built up area had the probability of changing to forest by 2045. The study recommended that strict legislation, policies and strategies should be put in place to protect the forests from undue exploitation.Keywords: Forest depletion; geo-information; supervised classification; Andoni LG

Land Use Change in the Mezam Division of the North-West Province, Cameroon From Landsat Imageries (1988 And 2001)

This study investigated land use change in the Mezam division of the Northwest part of Cameroon. Its main objective was to demonstrate the use of medium resolution but affordable imagery for land use classification. Data were obtained from satellite imageries (Landsat TM 1988 and ETM+ 2001), and the topographical map of the study area. Both materials were georeferenced to the same coordinate system of the study area and were subjected to Principal Component Analysis for image enhancement. Six landuse classes were identified: Bare Surface, Montane Forest, Water Body, Secondary Forest, Grassland, and Built-Up-Area. A total of 35 training sets were used 32 for 1988 and for 2001. Whereas the built up area and the vegetation areas were derived in vector format, the road network data set was overlaid on the classified images to evaluate the accessibility of the area for forest exploitation and other human activities. The classification accuracies for the two comparable years (1988 and 2001) are 93.75 and 88.57%, respectively. This fall within the range indicates a strong high accuracy and negligible errors. The study concluded that given the available technology, cost and scale of investigation, a medium resolution image will sufficiently be useful.Keywords: Deforestation, fuel wood, land use, Landsat imagery, Northwest Cameroon

The nature of sustainable energy access transitions: realities and possibilities for Lagos, Nigeria

This thesis is an investigation, both theoretical and empirical, into how the developing country energy poor can sustainably transition to modern energy services. This question is at the forefront of global issues as signified with Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7); which includes the target of ensuring universal energy access for all. Global statistics on energy poverty show that after more than 50 years of experience, limited progress has been achieved in providing the unserved with modern energy services. A conceptual framework is developed to graphically explain different kinds of household transitions as related to sustainability; drawing on empirical evidence, and theories of household energy transitions in developing countries, consumer decision–making, and sustainable livelihoods. Six months of field research conducted in two stages is undertaken in an interesting case from Lagos, Nigeria, with the aim of understanding the existence and scope of the drivers of household energy use, change, and sustainability. The case provides evidence to suggest that sustainable transitions take place when an accessible modern energy form is deemed a necessity because the traditional alternative is no longer accessible, under strong influence by developments in a household’s organisation of daily life. The Long–range Energy Alternatives Planning tool (LEAP) was used to develop an innovative model of household energy demand for Lagos state to explore medium to long term transition possibilities. Results suggest, among others, that energy access should prioritise the facilitation of energy supply that can alleviate the need for energy stacking, because energy stacking can lead to unintended policy outcomes and wasted resources. The thesis concludes that if SDG7 desires to displace traditional energy services, then as opposed to using modern energy to change people’s lives, the international community needs to change people’s lives to use modern energy services