Baseline black carbon emissions for gas flaring in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria

Obnoxious gases, particulates and enormous heat are the products of gas flaring causing environmental pollution and human health problem. Black carbon (BC) is an aerosol formed from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuel, biomass and biofuel. This present study aims to provide baseline emission inventory for the amounts of BC released into the atmosphere via gas flaring in the Niger Delta region for a period of 49 years (1965 - 2013); spanning five decades. Emission factors and volume of gas flared for each year for a 49-year period were sourced from literature and were employed to empirically estimate the amounts of BC emitted. For this said period, 55% of the gas produced was flared releasing an enormous amount of 4.56 x 10(5) tons (4.11 x 10(8) tons CO2 equivalent) of BC into the environment. It was observed that the amounts of BC released into the environment increased progressively (5.06 x 10(4) -1.27 x 10(5) tons) for the first decade (1965-1974) of gas flaring to the fourth decade (1995-2004) with a significant reduction (8.74 x 10(4) tons) in the amounts of BC emitted in the fifth decade (2005-2013). Of the probable solutions proffered to reduce BC emission through gas flaring is the utilization of the gas as transportation fuel (compressed and liquefied natural gas) in the country. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.