Gas Flaring in Nigeria: Its Effects and Solutions

A gas flare which can be referred to as flare stack, flare explosion, bottom flare, or flare pit is gas combustion by industrial plants such as petroleum refineries, chemical and natural gas processing plants. It is prevalent at oil or gas extraction areas containing oil wells, gas wells, offshore oil, gas rigs, and landfills. When natural gas is generated to the surface but cannot easily be used, it is “burned for removal” or “flared”.

Flaring mostly occurs when gas is generated as an outcome of oil extraction and brought to the surface. It is simply burned off if there is no infrastructure to put such associated gas to productive use. Gas flaring is the explosion of associated gas produced during several industrial processes constituting oil and gas recovery, petrochemical process, landfill gas extraction, and wastewater treatment. It is the intended open-air burning of natural gas and common practice in the largest shale oil.

However, it might be economically viable to employ the use of flare gas in heat and electricity generation if in large amount while in some scenarios; the flare gas may not be cost-effective to undertake such energy recycling. Excess gas is flared due to the lack of processing and storage facilities. In areas having limited infrastructure, this gas is burned off either at the top of a large stack or from a pit in the ground which has wrecking outcomes on local communities. A conventional but contentious way of eradicating undesirable gas is by flaring. Flaring emits black carbon, methane, and volatile organic compounds which are powerful climate forcers and dangerous air pollutants.

Why is gas flared?

There are various reasons, which include:

• Pressure aid to avert the risk of combustion from simply emitting large quantities of reactive gases.
• Removal of waste products from chemical production processes
• Safe explosion of combustible organic compounds

As part of the World Bank initiative to end routine flaring about the active flare site in her hometown, Faith Nwadishi, the Executive Director of Koyeneum Immalah Foundation in Nigeria in 2015 said that gas flaring is a threat to the fundamental right to life because it hampers the right to a clean environment. Communities don’t know the difference between day and night because they go to bed with active gas flare sights.

According to the World Bank, Nigeria is the seventh on the list of the world’s top flaring countries which means that millions more around the world are prone to similar situations, with countries like Venezuela, the United States, and Iran having even higher flaring rates.

What are the effects of gas flaring?

Gas flaring is a major environmental concern facing Nigeria today especially in the Niger Delta region (Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Imo state) as it generates a substantial amount of greenhouse gases, which when released directly into the air, traps heat in the atmosphere thereby contributing to global warming. The carbon dioxide from flaring indicates around 0.6% of athropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. It is a serious economic loss too. Yet, productive use of this gas would represent over $20 billion of value at current prices.

Flaring has a substantial impact on the health and environment of landowners who live near a flared well. It creates local air and noise pollution as the methane released is smelly and noisy, which on exposure causes headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, and loss of coordination in people and animals, according to the Natural Institute of Health. Flaring is a waste of a valuable natural resource. In oil plays, where natural gas is an unwanted byproduct of oil extraction, flaring is common because oil is 30 times more beneficial than natural gas. So instead of it being captured and taken to the market, it is destroyed, which is hardly an efficient way to treat precious natural resources.

What are the possible solutions to gas flaring?

To mitigate global warming, lessening flaring emissions is key. Alternatives like flare gas recovery systems can be applied to either minimize or eradicate this menace. The simplest and explicit way for states to control flaring is to compel companies to pay taxes on the quantity of gas they flare. It would encourage them to move to wellhead methane capture but this isn’t practiced. The responsibility for establishing regulations on gas flaring is, therefore, on the government of the locality where the flaring is being done.

Though most oil-producing countries have established policies on gas flaring and emission regulation, the implementation varies across regions. In areas with lenient monitoring and enforcement of rules, key oil and gas production players hardly adhere to flaring policies which ought not to be.

With the harmful effects of gas flaring on the environment, various economical alternatives have been introduced, including the use of flared gas in other production processes. These gas flaring reduction methods are outlined below:

1. Flare Gas Power Generation Programs, which is the recovery of natural gas from oil wells and landfill gases used to generate electricity.
2. Flare Gas Re-injection in Secondary Oil Recovery, which is the injection of natural gas generated from oil and gas well into aged wells to restore dwindling natural formation pressure and maintain production outputs. This self-sustaining cycle is quite prudent as waste is minimal, thereby boosting overall process efficiency.
3. Feedstock for Petrochemical Plants: Instead of flaring associated gas from oil and gas wells, the flare gas is channeled into the production of syngas, ammonia, hydrogen fuel for cars, or the manufacturing of rubber, glass, steel, and paint. In petrochemical production processes, natural gas is the main raw material used.
4. Liquefying and storing associated gas is a safer and inexpensive alternative to gas flaring. Following purification processes, liquefied natural gas can be stored for use both industrially and domestically.
5. Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Methane gotten from landfills and oil wells can be compressed at a pressure ranging from 20–25 MPa and stored in cylinders, which can be used to power vehicles that run on natural gas engines.

Conclusion

Gas flaring is linked with many dangers, so attention should be paid by the government to the development of crucial infrastructure (gas processing technologies) and transportation pipelines to improve the movement of gas from oil space to end users. Investments in petrochemical industries should be encouraged. Diversification of the Nigerian economy into agriculture, tourism, processing, etc, is also crucial to reduce reliance on crude oil for national revenue.

Tackling gas flaring in Nigeria should be a priority as it has benefits such as an increase in revenue generation, infrastructural development, and power supply. It will also reduce the emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere, assist thousands of jobs and businesses, and boost health conditions in the oil-producing areas.

Author: Gift Ifokwe

Picture: bloomberg.com