Quantifications and predictions of sectoral pollutants emissions in Nigeria from 1980 to 2050

The fast-economic development and population growth in Nigeria have resulted in huge quantities of air pollutants emission which have implications on the environment. Detailed sectoral emission inventory to serve as the basis for policy formation to mitigate the condition is still lacking. This study builds detailed sectoral emission inventory using the emission factor approach to estimates various pollutant emissions from different sources. Five major sources of pollutant emissions were identified which include transportation, energy, municipal solid waste, wood fuel, and agricultural sectors. An increasing trend in emissions from 1980 to 2020 was observed for total emission of CO, NOx, PM_2.5, PM₁₀, SO₂, NH₃ and NMVOC in Nigeria that increased from 1 736–6 210; 143–338; 126–551; 171–717; 19–60; 4–28; and 471–1 587 Gg, respectively. Wood fuel, transportation, and municipal waste sectors are the major sources that contributed to 63%, 16%, and 15% of the total CO emission. Three mitigation scenarios for emission reduction for the future were analyzed. CO emission reductions of 38%, 24%, and 38% will be obtained from the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) intervention, waste to energy (WTE) technology, and vehicle inspection and maintenance (VIM) policy scenarios, respectively, through to the year 2050.