What are the benefits to transitioning to “cleaner” cooking options?

Approximately 2.4 billion people, or 40% of the global population, lack access to clean cooking fuels and technologies, causing more than 3 million premature deaths annually through household air pollution. A recent study by CCEE researchers emphasizes the urgent need for transitioning to cleaner cooking options, which will help to decrease environmental damage and human health impacts, especially on the women and children who are most exposed in homes.

The study, led by CCEE graduate student Emily Floess and Professor Andy Grieshop, reveals the substantial health and climate benefits associated with expanding the use of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and/or grid electricity for cooking in low- and middle-income countries. While prior studies have explored the global carbon footprint of biomass dependence and the individual climate impacts of various cooking choices, this study represents the first comprehensive global analysis of the health and climate implications of large-scale transitions from traditional polluting fuels to LPG or electricity.

The research analyzed and projected the fuel used for household cooking from 2018 to 2040 in 77 low- and middle-income countries and estimated the associated emissions and climate impacts. By comparing typical fuel used with several alternative pathways for household energy, the study demonstrates that a full transition from biomass-fueled cooking to LPG or electricity can lead to a remarkable reduction in cumulative greenhouse gas emissions — between 17% and 47%, equivalent to 2.3 to 4.3 gigatons of carbon dioxide by 2040. This reduction is comparable to removing 500 to 900 million cars’ annual emissions. Additionally, the shift significantly decreases emissions of harmful pollutants such as particulate matter and carbon monoxide by more than 95%, thereby diminishing the risks of illness and premature death caused by household air pollution.

The work was motivated by the perception among some researchers working on addressing global energy poverty that a transition to LPG or grid-based electricity, which are both fossil-fuel-intensive options, would increase emissions that contribute to climate change. This study shows this perception to be incorrect, and even after accounting for 

“upstream” emissions from extraction, processing, long-distance transportation and last-mile distribution, both LPG and grid-based power result in lower emissions of all major pollutants contributing to climate change and possible health effects from air pollutants. 

The paper, “Scaling up gas and electric cooking in low- and middle-income countries: climate threat or mitigation strategy with co-benefits?”, recently published in Environmental Research Letters, involved researchers from NC State, the Stockholm Environment Institute, the Universities of Liverpool, Oxford and Leeds in the UK, and the University of California-Berkeley, with support from the Clean Cooking Alliance.