A RELIABLE ALTERNATIVE TO FOSSIL FUELS FOR ENERGY GENERATION IN NIGERIA

The world of today is where there is an increasing demand for energy to carry out the various activities of life. We need energy to cook our food, to work our machines (that provide transport and processing needs), for communication, production of food and other useful materials and to general electricity. From conservation law, the total energy of any non-nuclear system (where there is no interaction between the system and the surroundings) remains unchanged, but these energy reserves can be transformed from one form to another of the interest.

It is at the expense of the discovery of the various forms of energy (electrical, sound , heat, mechanical, chemical, light, etc) that the sources which produce them (fossil , solar, wind, geothermal, hydrothermal , etc) are called to play.

Energy generated from non- renewable sources (fossils) has really played its parts well in the economic development of many nations (like Nigeria ) but the environmental hazards it portrays (coupled with the fact that it is a finite source )has raised the global call for more promising , renewable alternatives such as solar energy , wind energy , geothermal energy , hydropower and the likes.

The present study, thus, seeks to review these alternative energy resources as potential remedy for the increased energy demand by the Nigerian populace (in particular) and the human race (at large). This will, no doubt, unveil possible recommendations that would encourage the long-awaited substantive increase in power generation for an enhanced economic development.