A Deputy Energy Minister, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, says African countries ought to exercise some patience in adopting cleaner sources of energy.
According to the Energy and Petroleum Economist, the recent energy crisis in Europe should be clue enough that no economy could depend solely on the “so-called cleaner sources of energy”.
Dr Amin Adam is of the opinion that Africa should be allowed to continue the production of hydrocarbons with the introduction of carbon capture techniques that reduce its impact on climate change.
“Demand for hydrocarbons will rise in the coming years, which will be time for Africa to cash in on investments made in the sector,” he said
The west backed by some international bodies is advocating a transition from hydrocarbons to cleaner sources of energy in order to manage the phenomenon of climate change and global warming.
Dr Amin Adam in a Citi Business News interview however noted that energy forecasts indicated high demand for hydrocarbons for many more years to come.
The world, in November 2016 set for itself a target of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by no later than 2050 and limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius across all countries of the world.
The agreement known as the Paris Agreement was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, on December 12, 2015, but Dr Amin Adam said there was the belief that the West was championing the decarbonisation agenda because it had depleted its fossil deposits.
Dr Amin Adam is also of the view that demand for hydrocarbons would rise in the near future despite plans to have the world transition to cleaner sources of energy.
