Shell must stop flaring in Nigeria. Here’s why.
Shell has been ordered by the court of the Hague to reduce its CO2 emission by 45% by 2030. Although this is a big win for the environmental NGOs, the judgment didn’t explain how Shell has to execute this reduction. In this article, we would like to give a suggestion: stop the practice of flaring in Nigeria.
Flaring is a highly controversial environmental issue as it causes high emissions of CO2, which contributes largely to global warming (Hassan & Kouhy, 2013). When flaring is done inefficiently, it causes emissions of PAH (polyaromatic hydrocarbons), NOx, SOx, and black carbon which largely impact the local environment and human health (Ite & Ibok, 2013). Deposition of these particles negatively affects plant growth, soils, surface- and groundwater as well as atmospheric conditions (Ite & Ibok, 2013).
Flaring is a way to dispose of gasses associated with crude oil extraction, which mainly consists of methane, nitrogen, and sulfur (Soltanieh et al., 2016). The aim of flaring is to dispose of these gasses in the safest way possible, which is through combustion (Ismail & Umukoro, 2012).
Flaring in Nigeria
Flaring happens in all countries involved in the oil extraction and refinery industry (Elvidge et al., 2009), but at different intensities and quantities (World Bank, n.d.). In Nigeria, it is estimated about 7 million m3 of gas is flared yearly, and flares have a high intensity (World Bank, n.d.). Flaring is done on a structural basis and often comes with incomplete combustion (Ite & Ibok, 2013).
The quantity of flaring has reduced in the past years, but this can mainly be ascribed to reduced oil exploration practices (Hassan & Kouhy, 2013). Grave environmental impact of flaring still exists in Nigeria, impacting food security and the health of citizens (Ite & Ibok, 2013). Particles emitted by incomplete combustion are related to higher chances of premature birth, negative effects on reproductive health, and reduced crop and fish yield (Ite & Ibok, 2013). This is all happening in a country dealing with famines, which not surprisingly started right after the expansion of crude oil production (Elegbede & Matemilola, 2017).
Environmental policies on flaring in Nigeria exist, which mainly aim at encouraging companies to re-inject and use the gas as an energy source (Nelson, 2015). However, it appears as though these national environmental policies are not impacting the motives to reduce flaring (Hassan & Kouhy, 2013). This can be ascribed to corruption amongst the Nigerian government (Boele et al., 2001), and a lack of infrastructure to actually pursue these policies (PWC, 2019).
What should be done
The environmental pollution in Nigeria can be ascribed to different causes, such as outdated flaring tips (Emam, 2015) and lack of state support to change current practices (Boele et al., 2001). This leads to environmental injustice, where the Nigerian people disproportionately suffer the consequences of crude oil extraction. Therefore, international awareness is necessary to put pressure on oil extracting companies to reduce flaring practices (Olujobi & Olusola-Olujobi, 2019).
Sources:
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