After E-Vehicles, consumers in India can now opt for E-Cooking which will soon become an environmentally friendly habit for all in the times to come. The additional secretary in the union power ministry Ajay Tewari on Monday said, ‘’Some people take it very lightly, but e-cooking has many dimensions for families in urban and rural areas. Given our large population, a change in our behaviour can have the biggest impact on the planet.”
Tewari was speaking at the conference organised in New Delhi on the occasion of World Environment Day by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Ministry of Power in collaboration with CLASP (Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program)on ‘’Consumer-Centric Approaches for E-cooking Transition.’’
The Additional Secretary said that the government wants to move towards e-cooking since we have 24/7 electricity in our households. “India has, in just 18 months, given Saubhagya connections to 26 million households who did not have electricity access. Never before in the history of the world has so many households been given electricity connection in such a short time. We are supplying energy for 23.5 hours in all urban areas and 23 hours and more in rural areas. It is a big achievement that the age of power cuts is behind us,’’ he noted. He added that 700 million people in the world however still do not have access to electricity and that universal energy access is one of the priorities of G20.
E-cooking is going to be the future of the Indian kitchen”
The Additional Secretary asserted that once all Indian households have electricity access, e-cooking is going to be the future of the Indian kitchen. “We can promote electric cooking since the technology is available. It must be scaled up, a model needs to be developed so that the energy comes from renewable sources, so that there is aggregation of carbon credits. The model should work in such a way that it becomes affordable in both urban and rural areas.”
“Need to come up with Affordable E-Cooking Business Models”
After the success of UJWALA and thus having transitioned to clean cooking, we now want to make the transition to e-cooking, said Tewari. Highlighting the importance of affordability, he added that ‘’We must promote e-cooking from renewable energy sources such as solar power and thermal power. We are coming up with aggregation models whereby prices can be brought down. We are moving towards an Indian model of e-cooking to serve Indian kitchens. If we have standard and affordable models, we should be able to cover all urban areas within 2-3 years. By 2030, we will like to cover as many households as possible under e-cooking. This will contribute significantly to our fight against climate change.”
“Very few technology barriers towards adopting e-cooking, need replication at Scale”
In his keynote address, Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Abhay Bakre on E Cooking said there is comparatively very little research required in this field since we have e-cooking appliances and consumers too are aware of this. “The principal barriers towards adopting e-cooking were customers’ concerns regarding potential faults in e-cooking appliances and whether all dishes could be prepared using e-cooking. When we launched the GO Electric Campaign, we faced big challenges such as setting up the electric vehicle charging infrastructure, the cost of Electric Vehicles and the production capacity. Contrary to this, we don’t have such challenges in e-cooking. We have found that almost all dishes prepared using conventional stoves can be prepared using e-cooking as well. So, what is needed is replication at scale. Our focus has been on kitchens and locations where cooking can happen for longer periods of time, of 8 – 10 hours per day. Rather than going for full replacement, consumers could go for replacing 50% of their cookers with electric cookers, so that they get the time to build confidence in e-cooking before making a full transition.”
E-Cooking a Win-Win for both Power Sector and Consumers”
“The promotion to e-cooking is a natural way of moving ahead with the SDGs, which are to be achieved by 2030. The first part – universal access to electricity – has been achieved in India. Most of our households also have access to LPG, thanks to UJALA.
When we transition to e-cooking, it is going to be a much cleaner fuel. Electric cooking is the future and consumer participation is very important here. E-cooking can save energy consumed in reheating as well,’’ said Bakre. He added that E cooking needs to be started with urban areas and to Tier-2, Tier-3 towns and then to rural areas. He observed that by 2030, e-cooking is going to be a win-win solution for both the power sector and for consumers as well.
“Transition to e-cooking can improve quality of life, reduce carbon emissions and improve indoor air quality”
Senior Director, CLASP, Bishal Thapa recalled that as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of World Environment Day today, it is time for decisive and transformative action and that the transition to e-cooking represents that opportunity. He said that the transition to e-cooking will enable a cleaner, greener and environmentally benign lifestyle. “The potential for e-cooking is not limited to rural areas. It is highly relevant for households and commercial areas in urban areas as well. The transition to e-cooking can help reduce energy imports and reduce our supply vulnerabilities. Overall, the transition can improve the quality of life, reduce carbon emissions and significantly improve indoor air quality.”
The CLASP Senior Director said that the transition now requires greater consumer awareness, encouraging consumer choices and additional supply. “New partnerships are now required to drive this energy transition.”
E-cooking Key to Mission LiFE
The focus on electric cooking is based on the recognition that e-cooking is a key pathway to Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) an all India led global mass movement to nudge individual and community action to protect and preserve the environment. Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow in 2021, Mission LiFE seeks to transform persons into pro-planet people, who would adopt sustainable lifestyles.
Access to clean cooking energy is a crucial aspect of India’s energy transition journey. The choices we make regarding cooking fuel can have a significant impact on India’s trajectory towards becoming a sustainable economy. India’s clean cooking transition requires rethinking individual and community actions and decisions that drive energy consumption.
