Accelerating E-Cooking Uptake in Africa and South Asia

Rationale

Globally, household CO2 emissions are roughly equivalent to those of the global aviation industry and, according to some estimates, as much as 50%Cooking with heavily polluting biomass fuels (such as wood, charcoal and dung) continues to be widespread across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Despite some progress, current figures suggest that 2.3 billion people remain without access to any kind of clean cooking, while at least a further billion only have access to lower tier solutions that continue to impose health, deforestation and carbon costs. This has profound impacts on climate, health, deforestation and women's economic development and human security.  

Electric cooking can instigate real progress in scaling affordable decarbonised cooking solutions across the large tracts of Africa and Asia still characterised by widespread use of polluting biomass fuels.  

Significant progress has been made in building the academic and political case for electric cooking but much still needs to be done in terms of creating the appropriate regulatory environment, building supply chains, and raising the public profile of the flexibility and affordability of electric appliances.

To rapidly scale electric cooking and achieve universal access and net-zero emissions by 2050 requires a comprehensive joining of specialist electric cooking technical knowledge with organisations supporting large-scale delivery and funding of energy access and emissions reduction initiatives. 

Objectives

This project will act as a flag-ship initiative of the Global Electric Cooking Coalition launched at COP28 as a vehicle for promoting electric cooking – implemented under the Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) Programme (UKAid funded). The project seeks to mainstream electric cooking components within comprehensive energy sector and clean air programming.

This project activities will provide eCooking support to the World Bank’s ASCENT Regional Energy Access Financing Platform in East and Southern Africa and the World Bank’s Uttar Pradesh Clean Air Management Program in India, including advice on the digitization of modern cooking devices and on carbon and other impact financing mechanisms for eCooking.

The project will also support Indian states to design eCooking interventions in contexts where electricity access is already in place but where traditional cooking remains a major source of harmful air pollution. 

Activities

To achieve these objectives, the project will:
 

• Develop partnerships with the teams delivering the World Bank programming, supporting capacity building, engaging partner governments.
• Develop local GeCCo partnerships in support of the WB programming, integrating efforts and avoiding duplication.
• Build supply chains by providing Technical Assistance to companies funded under the WB programming.
• Build public awareness of the affordability and flexibility of electric-cooking.
• Raise the awareness of utilities and regulators of the demand enhancement possibilities of electric cooking expansion, as well as the opportunities for supportive tariffs, time of day tariff interventions. 
• Demonstrate the successful expansion of electric cooking as an exemplar to other funders and leverage national budgets, as well as raise the profile of the potential of electric cooking amongst those developing carbon finance programming. 

Project reference: [HHE-24-002] Accelerating E-Cooking Uptake in Africa and South Asia