Equity
Safe cooking for a fairer future
Globally, more than 2.5 billion people still rely on solid fuels like biomass and coal as their primary cooking fuel. As a result, 3.2 million people a year die prematurely because of indoor air pollution, according to the World Health Organization.
Until recently, electricity has been considered an impractical solution for low- and middle-income countries urgently needing to transition communities off deadly solid fuels. But solar power is now the cheapest energy source in history. That, alongside major advances in appliance energy efficiency, means electric cooking solutions have become a cost-effective solution in many low- and middle-income countries.
Affordable energy efficient electric appliances also have the potential to alleviate energy poverty in higher income countries like the UK and US, where gas prices have more than tripled and analysis shows all-electric single-family homes in all regions of the US have lower energy bills than comparable mixed fuel-homes (i.e., electricity and gas).
These savings are transforming decisions by property developers in the commercial retail sector. Industry modeling shows all-electric kitchens save significant amounts in construction and operations and secure against stranded fossil-fuel assets.
Footage of electric pressure cooking in Kenya courtesy of CLASP