Folasade Ayoola

Up to 70% of global fossil fuel consumption needs to be cut by 2050 in order to achieve climate goals, making oil- and gas-dependent countries uniquely vulnerable, with up to $3 trillion in assets and $600 billion in revenue at risk. This motivates my work in exploring low-carbon energy-system transition pathways for such countries, using Nigeria as a case study. I will assess the viability of low-carbon, fossil-fuel-derivative commodities that could be used in bridging the sustainability transition in the country as well as the competitiveness of such commodities in regional and global markets. One such alternative is blue hydrogen produced from currently flared gas and from non-associated gas resources. Another is low-carbon oil and gas with associated life-cycle emissions offset using negative carbon land-use and industrial technologies as well as carbon and sustainable finance market instruments. Finally, I will assess energy-access and socio-economic benefits of these transition alternatives under various scenarios of interest. This could serve to inform and ultimately influence decisions that create pathways for the sustainable and equitable energy transition for emerging economies, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.