Benchmarking Energy consumption in Nigeria Universities

Abstract

That energy is an important development factor is now common knowledge. Without energy, services and societal activities will virtually grind to a halt. In Nigeria, there are several federal and state universities that receive their funding from the government. Because of their peculiar nature as knowledge-transfer-based institutions, the energy source predominantly in use in the universities is electricity. Therefore, the issues of electric energy availability, consumption and costs in universities with resident students and staff quarters can present a formidable challenge to any responsible administration. Due to the inadequate and epileptic supply of electricity in our universities, this paper establishes the need for baseline energy consumption profile in the Universities as a framework for future energy savings scheme and policy formation. This will help to identify where energy is being wasted, together with appropriate energy efficiency measures that can be considered in order to reduce energy consumption, costs and mitigate associated environmental externalities.