The Product

Health

The significance of health cannot be understated when considering this solution. Astonishingly, approximately 2.4 billion individuals worldwide still rely on cooking over open fires or inefficient stoves. This practice contributes to the generation of harmful household air pollution, which in turn has been linked to a staggering number of deaths. In 2020 alone, it was estimated that household air pollution was responsible for around 3.2 million fatalities, including over 237,000 deaths among children under the age of 5. Exposure to household air pollution has been linked to the development of noncommunicable diseases such as stroke, ischaemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and lung cancer. Clearly, adopting solar-powered cooking methods has the potential to significantly reduce these alarming health risks.

Deforestation

Africa stands as the sole continent where deforestation consistently rises every decade. In the period spanning from 1990 to 2000, the annual loss of forest cover exceeded 3 million hectares, escalating to nearly 4 million hectares per year during the most recent decade (2010-2020). Despite South America displaying a relatively improved performance with a reduction of nearly 50%, it still relinquished over 2.5 million hectares of forest area annually between 2010 and 2020. Over the past three decades, Asia has experienced a positive shift in forest coverage, accumulating a substantial yearly gain of more than 3 million hectares.

Emissions

The adoption of solar-powered cooking would also lead to a substantial decrease in fossil fuel emissions. Currently, the production and use of fuelwood and charcoal contribute to an estimated annual emission of up to 2.4 gigaton of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) in greenhouse gases. This accounts for approximately 2-7% of global anthropogenic emissions. The primary sources of these emissions stem from unsustainable forest management practices, as well as inefficient manufacturing processes and combustion of charcoal and wood fuel. In sub-Saharan Africa, solid-fuel cooking alone is responsible for 6% of global black carbon emissions and 1.2% of carbon dioxide emissions. By transitioning to solar-powered cooking, these emissions can be significantly reduced.

Time & money

The utilization of traditional fuels and stoves for cooking presents a staggering opportunity cost of $32 billion, equivalent to 3% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP.

While households in Africa and South America allocate a substantial portion of their income to fuel for cooking stoves, the true benefit lies not merely in long-term savings. The actual cost of relying on firewood and charcoal for cooking cannot be measured in monetary terms alone; it is measured in time. A significant number of rural households in Africa spend more than 1.5 hours, and in some cases up to 6 hours, each day collecting fuelwood for cooking. This task is predominantly carried out by women, as highlighted in a global study conducted by McKinsey and Company in 2015, which revealed that 75% of the world’s unpaid work, including cooking, firewood collection, and fetching water, is performed by women.