Sustaining the Future. Economic, Social, and Environmental Change in Sub-Saharan Africa (UNU, 1996, 365 p.): Part 3: Environment and resource management: The fuelwood/energy crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa: The primary energy sector in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sustaining the Future. Economic, Social, and Environmental Change in Sub-Saharan Africa (UNU, 1996, 365 p.)

Part 3: Environment and resource management

The fuelwood/energy crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa

		(introduction...)
		Introduction
		Population and environmental concerns
		The primary energy sector in Sub-Saharan Africa
		Problems of the energy sector in Sub-Saharan Africa
		The socio-economic implications of the fuelwood crisis
		Strategies to combat the fuelwood crisis Strategies to combst the fuelwood crisis
		New and renewable energy development
		Conclusion
		References

The primary energy sector in Sub-Saharan Africa

Although SSA is rich in modern energy resources, some of these are underexplored. The energy potential is expressed in the abundance

Table 13.1 Estimated energy consumption in Africa, 1990

Fuel(a)	World Million		Africa Million		Africa as % of world
	TOE	EJ	TOE	EJ
Gas	1,610	68.8	25	1.1	-
0il	2,740	117.1	85	3.6	-
Coal	3,180	135.9	86	3.7	-
Hydro(b)	630	26.9	14	0.6	-
Subtotal	8,160	348.7	210	9.0	2.6
Biomass	600	25.6	140	6.0	23.4
Total	8,760	374.3	350	15.0	4.0
Population (million)	5,300		650		12.3

Source: United Nations (1990).
a. TOE = tons of oil equivalent.
EJ = exajoules = 10¹⁸J.
b. Primary energy equivalent.

Table 13.2 Estimated energy consumption in Africa by region, 1990

Fuel	North Africa		Sub-Sahara excl. R.S.A.		Republic of South Africa
	Million TOE	EJ	Million TOE	EJ	Million TOE	EJ
Non-biomass fuels	80	3.4	47	2.0	83	3.6
Biomass fuels	10	0.4	126	5.4	4	0.2
Total	90	3.8	173	7.4	87	3.8
Percentage	26%		49%		25%
Population (million)	114	(17%)	497	(77%)	39	(6%)

Source: United Nations (1990).

Within Sub-Sabaran Africa only five countries account for almost all the oil produced - Nigeria, Angola, Gabon, Congo, and the Central African Republic (in descending order of output in 1991). The greater proportion is exported outside the region, even though petroleum is needed internally. Nigeria alone accounts for about three-quarters of the OPEC oil regulated quotas. On the whole, the total petroleum consumed is below 25 per cent of the total production (figs. 13.2 and 13.3).

Natural gas reserves on the continent are enormous and it is observed that the current reserves outweigh petroleum reserves if the current rate of production is taken into consideration. Coal reserves, which are more concentrated in the south, are expected to last for about 300 years. The growth rate of coal production has been slow, partly owing to greater reliance on petroleum for energy and to infrastructural and environmental problems.

Unlike coal, hydropower production is more widespread and has been increasing. It grew nearly four-fold between 1950 and 1988. Even at this growth rate, only 4 per cent of this power potential is exploited. Initial investment in production, environmental concerns, as well as old equipment and recurrent drought, have contributed to slowing down the growth of this power sector. Geothermal energy is utilized mainly in East Africa, and the possibility of its development needs to be explored for use elsewhere in SSA. The same goes for the production and supply of renewable energy sources. In these circumstances, wood fuels have become the predominant source of energy in the region.