Sustainable energy for national climate change, food security and employment opportunities: Implications for Nigeria

Abstract

This paper looks into the issues around renewable energy with a view to identify the opportunities for Nigeria and critically review the nation's renewable energy policy vis-à-vis the efforts and achievement of governments and indigenous practitioners. It identified the inherent opportunities of renewable energy resources at ameliorating the incidents of climate change and global warming and also surveyed international statistics on the relationships between energy and renewable energy adoption, national development, population explosion, job creation and rural-urban integration. It found out that for Nigeria to sustain economic growth especially as it relates to agriculture and food security, renewable energy for power generation must be included in the nation's rural development plan. It also demonstrated that renewable energy poses an opportunity for mitigating the nation's contributions to anthropogenic climate change.

Keywords

• Energy development
• Energy policy
• Nigeria
• Renewable energy
• Rural and urban integration
• Solar