Background and rationale
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 3.2 million people die prematurely each year from diseases attributable to indoor air pollution caused by the use of biomass fuels such as wood or coal. Electric cooking solutions are among the least pollutant-emitting and could provide a relevant response to this major public health issue. The project focuses on electric pressure cookers (EPCs). EPCs are insulated and hermetically sealed cooking appliances that cook food using steam pressure. EPCs achieve very high energy efficiency: field tests conducted by the Modern Energy Cooking Services program suggest that they reduce energy consumption by 50% compared to conventional hotplates (Scott and Leach 2023). This implies low running costs, lower than those of coal and gas, particularly for households benefiting from the social electricity tariff. In addition to these energy savings, EPCs also significantly reduce emissions of air pollutants at the point of use (no fuel combustion), including compared to gas that is a high emitter of nitrogen dioxide. These emission reductions are likely to reduce in particular the exposure of women in charge of cooking activities and young children to these pollutants, as well as the incidence of associated respiratory diseases in these population groups.
