Oludolapo Akanni Olanrewaju

By Oludolapo Akanni Olanrewaju and Charles Mbohwa

Energy evaluation together with greenhouse gas mitigation goes a long way in sustaining the growth and economy of a nation. Various evaluation methods have been adopted by researchers, academia and various country wise energy department ministries to achieve this aim. The most effective method is the hybrid evaluation method. This takes into consideration strength of a particular method to overcome the weakness of another method. This chapter focuses on a recently proven integrated method on energy and greenhouse gas studies—integrated IDA‐ANN‐DEA (index decomposition analysis—artificial neural network—data envelopment analysis). Case studies were exemplified using this approach in evaluating possible energy potential that could be saved in the manufacturing industries in Canada and South Africa as well as a particular food and beverage industry. Another case study focused on the amount of possible greenhouse gas that could be mitigated in the Canadian industry. The hybrid model proved very useful in its analysis.

Part of the book: Research and Development Evolving Trends and Practices

By Busola D. Olagunju and Oludolapo A. Olanrewaju

The concern for environmental related impacts of the cement industry is fast growing in recent times. The industry is challenged with high environmental impact which spans through the entire production process. Life cycle assessment (LCA) evaluates the environmental impact of product or process throughout the cycle of production. This can be done using either or both midpoint (process-oriented) and endpoint (damage-oriented) approaches of life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). This study assessed the environmental impact of 1 kg Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) using both approaches of LCIA. This analysis was carried out using a data modeled after the rest of the world other than China, India, Europe, US and Switzerland. The dataset was taken from Ecoinvent database incorporated in the SimaPro 9.0.49 software. The result of the analysis showed that clinker production phase produced the highest impact and CO2 is the highest pollutant emitter at both endpoint and midpoint approaches. This is responsible for global warming known to affect both human health and the ecosystem. Also, toxicity in form of emission of high copper affects the ecosystem as well as humans. In addition, high fossil resources (crude oil) are consumed and pose the possibility for scarcity.

Part of the book: Product Life Cycle

By Moses Jeremiah Barasa Kabeyi and Oludolapo Akanni Olanrewaju

Biomethane production generally involves the cleaning to remove minor unwanted components of biogases such as hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and moisture (H2O) and upgrading in a process that involves the removal of carbon dioxide (CO2) to increase the concentration of CH4 to 95–99% and reduce CO2 concentration to 1–5%, with little or no hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Biomethane gas is a flexible and easy to store fuel having similar properties and applications as natural gas with no need to modify the settings for natural gas devices and equipment. Biomethane can be used for industrial and domestic applications ranging from thermal and power generation and feedstock for processes like the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) for fuel manufacturer and direct power generation in hydrogen or biogas fuel cells like production of green hydrogen. Therefore, biomethane promises to play a leading role in the energy transition through hydrogen, electricity, and other renewable fuels production. Biomethane production by biogas upgrading methods include the pressure swing adsorption, which has an option of temperature swing adsorption, absorption technics based on amine, membrane separation, cryogenic separation, and biological separation. The technology adopted may depend on factors such as costs, quality of products, location, and technology maturity and requirements.

Part of the book: Anaerobic Digestion

By Oludolapo Akanni Olanrewaju, Oluwafemi Ezekiel Ige, Busola Dorcas Akintayo and Ahad Ali

Natural gas is a growing energy source worldwide, with its market share increasing steadily. It is one of the primary fuels used in electricity production. Its high thermodynamic quality and low environmental impact make it the fastest growing energy source in the global energy sector. Natural gas is a relatively clean and efficient fuel, making it a good choice for electricity production and heating. Using natural gas in gas power plants and industrial thermal applications will reduce harmful pollutants. Despite its significance, it is crucial to understand its potential impact on the electricity supply. The objective of this study is to conduct a life cycle assessment from cradle-to-gate of a natural gas power plant to understand the impact on the global warming (GWP) potential, freshwater eutrophication potential (FEP) and terrestrial acidification potential (TAP) categories when producing 1 kWh of electricity. Using the SimaPro (version 9.2) software package and Rest of the World data to model the cradle-to-gate scenario, the study found that the processing of natural gas is the most crucial stage in all three impact categories, making it the hotspot (37-95%) for GWP, FEP and TAP, with CO2 contributing the most at the GWP, PO4 at FEP and NOx at TAP.

Part of the book: Climate Smart Greenhouses

By Moses Jeremiah Barasa Kabeyi, Oludolapo Akanni Olanrewaju and Joseph Akpan

Biogas is a sustainable energy produced from biodegradable organic matter through anaerobic digestion. Biogas mainly contains methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) and various contaminants, such as water vapor (H2O), ammonia (NH3), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), methyl siloxanes (MSs), nitrogen (N2), oxygen (O2), halogenated volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons whose presence largely depends on the source of biogas. The value of biogas is enhanced further by the production of organic manure as substitutes for chemical fertilizers in crop production. The vast range of applications makes biogas an attractive sustainable energy choice. Bioenergy generation capacity, mainly from biogas globally, has shown promising worth over non-renewable energy options; hence, its production has expanded rapidly during the previous two decades, from 42.38 Exajoules/year in 2000 to about 57.74 Exajoules/year in 2023, an increase of about 36.24%. This study presents the biogas production and potential improvement measures that include factors influencing the process and quality of biogas produces such as C/N (carbon nitrogen ratio, the pH, dilution of feedstock, composition and nutritive value of feedstock, residence period, mixing and stirring, temperature, presence of toxicants, loading time and redox conditions). The main barriers to biogas production and use include lack of technical know-how, lack of subsidies and incentives for biogas production and use. Access to appropriate and affordable biogas technologies, the development of a comprehensive policy on the construction and operation of bio-digesters as well as utilization of biogas and sales of biogas energy products and services are important for an increasing adoption of biogas.

Part of the book: From Biomass to Biobased Products

By Joseph Akpan and Oludolapo Olanrewaju

This work presents an analysis of the impact of nationally determined contributions (NDC) under the Paris Agreement on global temperature rise. With the use of a climate simulation tool based on the concept of system dynamics, the study constructs a framework to project global temperature changes under other policy scenarios. The hypothesis is formulated based on the analysis of current, announced and best-case global/national policy scenarios. The research aims to address critical questions regarding the effectiveness of the ongoing NDC commitments in limiting global temperature rise to well below 2°C, in alignment with the Paris Agreement’s goals. The simulation results offer a roadmap by presenting possible grey areas for optimising the current NDCs in global and national energy policies and treaties, fostering international collaboration and reinforcing the global commitment to combating climate change. In addition, this study also presents other potential strategies for decarbonisation associated with facilitating the implementation of just and fair NDCs.

Part of the book: Global Warming

By Oluwafemi E. Ige, Kevin J. Duffy, Oludolapo A. Olanrewaju and Obiora C. Collins

The cement industry is among the growing industries globally that negatively impact human health and global warming due to various substances released into the water, air and soil. This impact and potential damage have been studied in several ways to understand their effects, but more details are still needed. This study examines the damage done by producing 1 kg of cement in South Africa using the Recipe 2016 endpoint method. It also conducted an uncertainty analysis using the Monte Carlo method to confirm and establish its credibility. The results showed that the clinkering stage causes the most damage to human health (49%) and ecosystems 60% due to large amounts of carbon dioxide emissions. The result showed high uncertainty in Water consumption, Human health, Water consumption, Terrestrial ecosystem, Aquatic ecosystems, Human carcinogenic toxicity and Ionizing radiation. These results align with existing literature but highlight the specific contributions of clinkering.

Part of the book: Global Warming

By Hagreaves Kumba, Oludolapo Olanrewaju, Joseph Akpan, Francis Mafuratidze and David Ndiyamba

Engineering education in Zimbabwe is crucial for the country’s Vision 2030 Economic Agenda, but the education system is inadequate due to the mismatch between the provided talents and the ever-changing engineering world. This shortage of skilled engineers hinders economic growth and efforts to combat poverty, infrastructural deficit, and other sustainable development challenges. Traditional teaching methods and outdated materials negatively impact the outcomes of engineering graduates entering the industry. The Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education transitioned from the Education 3.0 model in 2017 to Education 5.0, which incorporates innovation and industrialization. The increasing demand for qualified engineers to drive economic growth in Zimbabwe is discussed in this paper, which also offers recommendations for improving engineering education in the country. The study uses short questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with engineering and academic stakeholders with a response rate of 95.9% to investigate the current gap between engineering education and industry. The aim is to inspire academic institutions, education designers, and curriculum developers to create programs that provide sustainable education, industry, and engineering development in Zimbabwe.

Part of the book: Innovation and Evolution in Tertiary Education [Working title]