Which sort of energy for cooking?

This is above all an economic problem. What is needed is thermal energy,  but official efforts of promotion go nearly exclusively to photovoltaics and other renewables energy sources, which all lead to electricity, with the exception of biogas. The electricity produced in this way is much more expensive than wood, which is being used by 97 % of the population (80 % use fuel wood and 17 % charcoal) according to the first communication by the Republic of  Chad to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2001. The problem of dependence on wood cannot be solved in this way. The preference given to the option "electricity" leads to social unrest, if the population cannot pay for it.  Theft of current by underground electricians becomes a rule.  "Poverty drives people to steal electricity and boosts the number of unlawful connections ", according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) in the  "World Energy Outlook" 2002.  If electric current is available, Africans use it nearly exclusively for lighting and communication devices to improve their living conditions. 

 

For cooking purposes electricity is too expensive; therefore people continue to rely on wood and charcoal. But there are powerful solar cookers available, which have the potential to replace the part of  wood consumption which exceeds new growth, like the Papillon for family use and the Scheffler cooker for institutions. In contrast to electricity from the grid and bottled gas, solar cookers make families less vulnerable to prices changes of commercial forms of energy. Thus, they contribute to the fight against poverty, while electricity and gas place a constant heavy burden on the family budget. Financing could be achieved - at least partially - by carbon offset funds.

For more information: Oil, Woodfuel and the Sun (pdf, 126 KB)

Wood Fuel Scarcity in the Sahel and the Potential of Solar Cookers (pdf, 1,7 MB)

Cooking with renewable energies.pdf

Next page: Health problems due to biomass fuel use 

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