The Oct. 9-13 World Energy Council (WEC) 16th Congress in Tokyo will hear of a number of case studies that show attempts to solve environmental problems often uncover other problems.
In Nigeria, for example, oil production capacity is being increased to 2.5 million b/d by 1998, while average energy consumption amounts to only 800,000 b/d of oil equivalent. Noncommercial burning of fuel wood accounts for two thirds of this total.
Of commercial energy use, 75% is petroleum products, 19% natural gas, 5% hydroelectricity and 1% coal. Yet Nigeria flares 76% of the gas it produces during oil recovery. That was equal to twice the countrys commercial energy consumption in 1989.
It would make sense to burn gas instead of wood, but WEC sees two barriers: lack of cash to fund building of gas supply infrastructure and the noncompetitiveness of gas because of heavy subsidies on petroleum products.
Sphinx decay
In Egypt, Cairos population has rocketed from 5 million in 1976 to more than 12 million last year. A major cause of air pollution there is the citys 900,000 motor vehicles, many of them old and poorly maintained.
Cairos cars and industry were estimated to belch out each year 700-1,000 metric tons of lead, 7,300 metric tons of nitrous oxides, 180,000 metric tons of sulfur dioxide, and unmeasured volumes of particulates and black smoke.
Air pollution with reference to sulfur dioxide is one of the prime causes of deterioration of the Sphinx, WEC said.
Furthermore, it has been found that the loss in weight of steel plates exposed to the atmosphere of Cairo City and the southern industrial district for 9 months increased by 50-70% compared with plates exposed to the atmosphere of Cairo suburban areas.
All the usual measures are being applied in Cairo to cut auto exhaust pollution, but there are constraints: rapid population growth in Cairo, high taxes on imported cars and spare parts, and the fact that people cant afford to buy newer, cleaner running cars.
Rich mans problem
In rich countries, attempts to find alternative, cleaner sources of energy show there is no such thing as a free kilowatt. Take the Dutch wind power experience, for example.
The cost of energy from small (less than 50 kw) turbines in stand-alone or hybrid systems is typically two to four times higher than for large grid-connected turbines, said the case study authors.
Noise is the other obvious drawback of wind power generators, but the authors also found one drawback that is more surprising. Birds flew into generator blades at one wind plant at an average rate of 0.1-1.2 times a day. At that rate, the number of bird victims per kilometer of wind farm was comparable to a kilometer of roadway.
To tackle urban air pollution, WEC recommends better urban planning, increased air monitoring, and promotion of public transportation.
Major waste problems such as Nigerias gas flaring need to be tackled urgently, WEC said. But a big difficulty in some cases is figuring out who is to blame. Copyright 1995 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.