By Adedapo Adesanya
As part of its incentive to boost local methanol production, Nigeria has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an Israeli firm, DOR Group, on methanol production technology.
The Minister of Science and Technology, Mr Ogbonnaya Onu and Mr Vincent Asor, Chief Operating Officer, DOR Group of Israel signed the MOU on Wednesday in Abuja, as a decisive step toward implementing the methanol production technology.
According to Mr Mohammed Abdullahi, Minister of State for Science and Technology, the federal government was determined to execute the terms of the agreement.
Mr Abdullahi, in a statement, said the signing of the MoU would change the fortunes of Nigeria significantly.
According to him, the methanol technology shall expand the chemical industry value-chain, replacing kerosene as household cooking fuel, and contribute to efficient and effective transportation.
He added that other advantages of methanol production technology were to mitigate climate change and improve electricity generation.
Mr Abdullahi further said the policy would create an enabling environment for more investment in the oil and gas sector and bring about an end to gas flaring in Nigeria.
In his remarks, Mr Asor gave the assurance that DOR Group of companies will do its best to fulfil its own side of the agreement.
He also said that quality and efficient engineering for which Israeli firms were known for would be brought to bear in the implementation of the agreement.
In 2019, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) unveiled a new policy that will see the use of methanol as an alternative fuel in Nigeria.
Methanol is a much more cleaner energy source and will be produced from the abundant gas resources, currently being flared by oil companies.
Mr Onu noted that the country has a lot to gain from its production, saying “You can use methanol for transportation, all these racing cars that you find – they out M85, M100 essentially that M in methanol means it’s 85 per cent methanol, 15 per cent gasoline.
“But for ordinary use, normally the blending will be 15 per cent of methanol so that you don’t have to make any adjustment to your vehicle.”
He disclosed further that “methanol can be used to replace diesel in trucks that we find on our highways because methanol is cheaper and it is environmentally friendly so that all the problems that are associated with the use of diesel, can be solved by the use of methanol”.
The Minister also stated that it will help provide cleaner fuel for Nigeria’s teeming rural populace.
“Our people in rural areas can use methanol for cooking so that it can replace kerosene because when you use kerosene you have soothes and it creates health problem for you but methanol does not have that, it’s very clean, safe and cheap,” he said.
Modupe Gbadeyanka