Nigeria’s quest to strengthen its economy through Methanol Fuel Production technology strategy has again come to the fore as the federal government has entered into a collaboration to use the technology to enhance startup businesses among the young people in the country.
Indications to this development emerged at a training workshop on the Implementation of the National Policy on Methanol Fuel Production Technology Strategy Using Dassaults Systems Solid Work Technology organised by the ministry in Abuja recently.
The use of this technology has become very imperative because according to the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Mrs Monilola Udoh, Nigeria has the 9th largest proven natural gas reserves in the world with approximately 200 trillion cubic feet, and despite being the largest in Africa, only 25 per cent of those reserves are currently being developed.
The permanent secretary also said that the oil and gas industry is the backbone of the Nigerian economy, but with a shift towards renewable and clean energy resources, the country’s economy can be diversified.
Methanol, she said, is a clean-burning fuel that is gaining traction globally as a viable alternative to fossil fuels in the country, adding that the country needs to explore alternative energy resources and methanol fuel production will be an excellent option.
According to Mrs Udoh, the ministry is collaborating with Messers Coscharis Technologies Limited in training the Staff on the use of Advanced Manufacturing Technologies Software and solid works solution to drive projects and programs in the Ministry.
Solid work is Computer Aided Design (CAD) software that enables engineers to create 3D models of products, parts and coupling of machines which is widely used in the manufacturing industries to design and develop new products across sectors.
One of the mandates of the ministry is to necessitate the need for the training of staff for effective implementation of projects and programmes for optimal contribution by all participants during the training.
The director environmental sciences and technology department, Dr. Peter Ekweozor. said that the Methanol Fuel Policy is one of the key mandates of the ministry to drive socio-economic development of Nigeria.
He stated that the efforts of the ministry are to ensure that the policy adds value to Nigeria’s natural materials, which will facilitate the advancement of technologies necessary for job creation, serve as a source of raw materials for our manufacturing industries, generate cleaner electricity and cut down global warming.
Product manager of Solid Works, Clement Nnedu, told the media in an interview that Soild Works is a solution that understands what and how people produce any product of their choice in any sector of the economy, coming out of research, designs and manufacturing.
“Whether it is in the software or in the equipment, Solid Works is a software that is so easy to learn. Whatever you can do, Solid Works will help you do it better, and it is an easy software to use even up to medical equipment.
“We are training the ministry to be able to implement the equipment designs, and the environment where methanol will be produced and it is used for precision manufacturing after it has been designed.
“The training is to bring knowledge to the youth on how to build their startups and create their own jobs in various industries,” Nnedu said.
He assured that Nigeria will gain a lot because when the youth start creating their own startups, the different sectors of the economy will benefit immensely from the solutions.
While the collaboration appears very impressive, the public want to see in the nearest future what the outcome of this collaboration f will be.
