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Deployments of renewable energy technologies in the current century represent a critical approach to sustainable development. Renewable energy can be generated from sources with the backdrop to restock themselves based on timescale. The most important sources of renewable energy include solar photovoltaic conversion technologies, biomass and biofuel energy systems, wind energy turbines, geothermal energy technologies and hydroelectric power systems. Considerable investment in renewable energy in a country can lower the nation's dependency on imported fuels and purchase of energy from foreign market. It also drives technological innovation and generate employment scheme while enhancing clean development mechanism. Consequently, this paper presents the existing renewable energy technologies in the Nigeria and as well makes some critical recommendations to further induce development of renewable and sustainable energy systems based on autonomous energy systems and microgrid (µgrid) technologies. The recommendations are made based on varieties of energy technologies for solar power generation, biomass and bioenergy, wind energy, hydropower generation and the combined generation systems using hybrid energy mechanism. The structure of the study is concluded based on suggestions on how to pursue some impending socio-political, technological, investment policy and legislative issues for effective renewable energy development in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Rising concerns about global energy security and climate change due to emissions of noxious gases resulting from the combustion of fossil fuels have strongly renewed interest in renewable energy development. These concerns have also coordinated a reaction towards the global focus on a clean development mechanism, which is a basic strategy endorsed in the framework of the Kyoto Protocol. The use of biomass for the sustainable distributed generation of power offers immense hope to rural dwellers, who have limited access to electricity from centralized grid systems. Like other renewable sources of energy, biomass distributed-generation systems will play a critical role in the future of electrical power demand outlooks and energy generation planning. This article presents the wide-ranging potential of bioenergy resources in Nigeria for bioelectric power generation. It explicates the poor energy situation of the country and highlights different categories of biomass that can be exploited to tackle the energy deficiency in many rural communities. The study concludes with a discussion on the significance of distributed-generation electricity using bioenergy resources for rural energy supply, including brief discussions on the technologies for bioelectric power utilization. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Fossil fuels-based conventional grid extension in developing countries from centralized power systems in urban centres to rural areas is usually capital intensive and in most cases not economically realistic. From a global perspective, more than a quarter of the human population experiences an energy crisis, especially those living in the rural areas of developing countries. Among these numerous victims of global energy shortage are the majority of people in sub-Saharan Africa, like Nigeria. More than 80% of Nigerians consistently rely on combustible biomass especially from forest wood and its charcoal derivatives for primary energy consumption amidst a serious shortage of access to modern energy sources. Nigeria has abundant renewable and non-renewable energy resources. While most attention is concentrated on tapping only the traditional bioenergy resources, other renewable energy resources are underexploited. This article reviews comprehensively the potential of four major kinds of renewable energy sources (biomass, solar, wind and hydro) in Nigeria. A total energy potential of 697.15TJ is estimated from crop residue, 455.80PJ from animal waste and 442MW from municipal solid waste in Lagos metropolis alone. The solar radiation in the country ranges from 4kWh/m2 in the south to 7kWh/m2 in the north, which is sufficiently above the threshold average value of 2.3kWh/m2 required for the operation of simple domestic load especially in rural communities. Wind speed in the country varies from 1m/s in the southern plain to 7.96m/s far northwest in Katsina State between June and September. Unexploitable hydropower potential of 12,954.2MW also exists as against the backdrop of 10,000MW required to raise the socio-economic growth level and alleviate poverty in the country. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]