By: Felix Ikpotor
Due to the reported harmful impacts of biogas emission from landfills and traditional cooking methods, an environmentalist, Chamberlain Amadi is now emphasising the use of landfill biogas capturing and clean cook stoves.
Amadi, who is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of C.Pharceutech Services Nigeria Limited and an ambassador of the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), trained on climate change mitigation and resilience projects by Green Finance Hub 2025said traditional cooking methods is linked to most respiratory diseases and eye defects.
He stated this in a statement made available to this publication in Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers State.
He also listed soil and underground water pollution as as some of the disadvantages of biogas emissions from landfill and other traditional cooking methods.
Highlighting other impacts of biogas emission from landfills and traditional method of cooking, the envirmentalist listed respiratory disease like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular diseases, asthma, childhood pneumonia, lung cancer, eye problems and pregnant mothers.
He also listed deforestation, air pollution and climate change as other negatives impacts of biogas emission from landfills and other traditional cooking methods.
As a way out, he said; “The installation of digester plant and distribution of clean cookstoves can help reduce emissions and mitigate the impact of climate change”.
He added: “By also distributing refine biogas from biogas plant and using cleaner biogas and solar powered cookstoves, households can reduce their greenhouse gas footprint (carbon dioxide, methane, and black carbon) and contribute to a healthier planet.
“Additionally, the use of clean cookstoves can also have a positive impact on local air quality, reducing deforestation and other health problems associated with indoor air pollution. Overall, the adoption of clean cookstoves is an important step towards addressing both climate change and public health concerns, ” he emphasised.
Amadi said; “Therefore, it is imperative to transition to cleaner Nigeria by capturing the biogas from our landfill and distribute efficient cookstoves to improve health outcomes and reduce emissions”.
Hghlighting the importance of clean cookstoves in improving health outcomes and reducing harmful emissions, Amadi said there is the need to inform the public of the negative impact of improper management of landfills and traditional method of cooking on indoor / outdoor air quality and the resulting health problems, particularly for women and children.
He also said the statement is to let the public know about the initiative that UNFCCC and stakeholders have to install landfill biogas capturing plant and distribution of one million clean cookstoves in Obio / Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State first before scaling up across the other parts of the state, to improved respiratory health, reduced exposure to harmful pollutants, and decrease greenhouse gas emissions, saying; “This public call emphasizes on the need for increased investment in the installation of anaerobic digestion plant and clean cookstove technology and the importance of promoting its adoption in the state”.
Going foward, Amadi noted that while the implementation of landfill anaerobic digester and utilization of clean cookstoves have shown promising results in reducing emissions and improving health outcomes, there is still much work to be done in terms of scaling up adoption and addressing the challenges of affordability, accessibility and advocate the danger of these pollutants.
” Future research should focus on identifying effective strategies for promoting the use of clean cookstoves, as well as developing innovative financing models to make them more affordable for low-income households.
” Additionally, efforts should be made to improve the design and performance of clean cookstoves, with a particular emphasis on reducing emissions of black carbon and other harmful pollutants,” stressing that by “addressing these challenges and continuing to promote the use of clean cookstoves, we can make significant progress towards achieving sustainable development goals of improving public health and reducing greenhouse gas emissions”.
While calling on government involvement in the campaign as biogas emissions and other traditional cooking methods, he said his organisation alongside it partners have written to relevant ministries and Obio Akpor Council which to kick start action plans towards having a broader stakeholders engagement on fighting climate.
