As the relationship between greenhouse emission and climate change continue to be a source of concern to many people, a little-known Nigerian energy company — Matrix Energy Limited — has taken a major step towards proffering a solution.
The company is doing this by investing in the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) business, with hopes of providing Nigerians with cleaner and supposedly cheaper source of cooking energy.
Speaking recently in Warri at an event themed Meet Your Customers Forum, the company’s Head of Marketing, Mrs Toyin Sowunmi, said that asides dissuading Nigerians from the use of unclean and dangerous energy sources, the initiative will also help to minimise the effect of climate change.
She also stated that Nigerian is among the countries with the least LPG usage figures in the whole of the African continent, with nearly 66% reliance on firewood for both domestic and industrial energy needs. This is despite the fact that Nigeria is one of the biggest producers of natural gas, a large quantity of which is flared daily in the Niger Delta.
Unfortunately, the over-reliance on firewood energy puts a strain on the forests, even as deforestation becomes the order of the day. This, of course, exacerbates the effects of climate change such as flooding, desertification, etc.
Mrs Sowumi further disclosed that Matrix Energy Limited currently supplies about 30% of Petroleum Liquefied Gas across the country. The company has a total of 65 LPG trucks which distributes its product across the country, even as it hopes to acquire more.
Also speaking at the event was Mr Rapheal Biu, the Terminal Manager of Matrix Energy, who stressed that the company is bent on creating awareness on the need to embrace Liquefied Petroleum Gas.
In his words,
“We want people to be aware of its benefits; it is cleaner and cheaper and from the records of the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, we now know that 66 per cent of Nigerian population still uses firewood, which means deforestation, all these increase the greenhouse emission.
“We want to make sure that while meeting our present needs, we don’t jeopardise the livelihood of future generations, a way to do that is to promote and encourage the use of LPG.” – Biu
Incorporated in 2004, Matrix Energy Limited is a Nigerian energy merchandising company which was started by a crop of young professionals.