Why India needs to adopt electric cooking | Economic Times

The ‘Go Electric’ campaign launched by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) last February talks about spreading awareness on the benefits of electric cooking in India. Many think tanks and forums have also been deliberating on the possibility of transition to electric cooking in rural India. It has earlier been argued that the promotion of LPG by Government of India should have been complemented with electric induction cookstoves, as cost and fuel expenditure for both are almost same. Also, the synergetic effect of providing electricity access and “electrifying the rural energy demand” using common infrastructure will be enormous.There are many technology options available for electricity based cooking, such as induction cooktops, electric pressure cookers, and solar energy based cooktops, with loads ranging between 700 watt and 2 kilowatt. The fuel efficiency of electric cooking options is also higher than LPG stoves. The recent increase in prices of LPG cylinder refill has made the cost per meal from electric stoves even lower, at the current average electricity tariffs. The draft National Energy Policy by NITI Aayogalso aims to achieve access to clean cooking energy for all by 2022 and the policy emphasizes on electricity based cooking.Despite the significant benefits of electric stoves and the impetus by the government, its widespread penetration and adoption is still limited. Even urban homes hardly use electric cooking options for major meals, except on special occasions; in rural areas their adoption is riddled with even more challenges. The major challenges include access to reliable electricity supply and large family size in many rural areas, absence of responsive after-sales services, and rural communities’ distrust of new technologies.The most important challenge, however, is the inadequacy of the infrastructure that has been created to take electricity to rural homes. The network developed under the national rural electrification program during the last decade and a half may not have adequate capacity to take on the additional load that will occur if rural homes start using electric stoves. Despite the NITI Aayog’s emphasis on electrifying rural energy demand and the issue of inadequacy of the network for electric cooking finding place in different deliberations, a proper assessment of the rural electricity network, and whether it can support large-scale electricity based cooking, has not been systematically carried out while expanding rural electrification. Another challenge is the ability to pay for electricity given the poverty level in rural areas, where even now roughly 60 per cent of the population is provided with subsidized food grain by the government.The cost of heating 10 litres of water using LPG at current prices is around INR 8, whereas for electric stoves, it will be roughly INR 5.5/-,after factoring the device efficiencies. However, the same for using fuelwood is around INR 2, considering INR 4/kg as the price of fuelwood. In fact, an analysis, based on publicly available data, indicates that the LPG refill rate of households that have been provided with a connection under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, is less than two refills per household per annum. Against this, the average requirement of a typical rural household where all major meals are cooked using LPG is around seven refills per year. The low LPG refill rate is indicative of continued reliance on fuelwood for cooking. One of the major barriers identified is the ability of most homes to afford a cylinder refill.Another analysis, however, indicates that gas-based and electric cooking will be dominant by 2030 with expected increase in income of rural homes with the country’s economic growth. What is not clear as yet is the speed of transition to electric and other clean cooking options like biofuel based stoves. The complete transition to modern cooking fuels and clean cooking technologies is a gradual process, and will be dependent on a range of factors from affordability to behavioral aspects to policy support mechanisms. Some among them are strengthening of electricity network in rural areas and availability of solar based cooking at an affordable price with the advent of new technologies. In the longer term, electric cooking and biofuel based stoves will eventually be the norm, especially from an energy security perspective for India.It is important that the recently approved Government of India’s results-linked scheme for upgradation of distribution infrastructure considers undertaking a proper assessment of the electricity infrastructure in rural areas considering the potential and significance of electricity based cooking from an energy security perspective as well as its ability to get rural homes rid of the typical smoky kitchen, and potentially reducing ambient air pollution in many Indian cities, thereby improvingquality of life of the people.(The writer is a senior fellow and associate director at TERI)DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely of the author and ETEnergyworld.com does not necessarily subscribe to it. ETEnergyworld.com shall not be responsible for any damage caused to any person/organisation directly or indirectly.