What the Experts are saying

Experts and activists – Greta Thunberg, Bill Gates, Antonio Guterres, Walt Patterson and others – have raised the alarm about planetary overheating due to carbon dioxide emissions. Generally, they focus on electricity from coal burning and fossil fuel-based transportation.  

Traditional electricity and transport are indeed major reasons for accumulated atmospheric emissions and climate change.  

At BHAVE Power Systems, cooking emissions belong up there, with electricity and transport through fossil fuels.   

We believe ~ 10% global emissions are from cooking, a big number! Therefore, a worthy amelioration, reduction, elimination challenge to undertake 

Many try to “fix” this problem at policy and systems level. But what about changes at the level of individuals, families, communities? Through roof top solar or microgrids? At small business, entrepreneurship, and student project levels?  

Engineering schools are divided into disciplines, for historical reasons, that make a comprehensive, systems level assessment of the energy challenges difficult. Would energy centers at universities help? Several are taking shape across the world.    

We think “cooking” solutions are amenable to local, business school, and engineering departments level interdisciplinary class projects.  

Policy level initiatives, at the UN, the USA Federal or at national labs, in China, India, Africa, and the Americas, for example, must lead to actionable, emissions reduction, and customer benefit projects, like cooking.  

“The world will need to make a major push to provide 2.8 billion people with clean cooking solutions by 2030. To meet this challenge, new technologies and fuels will need to be developed and deployed that are cost-effective, have reduced carbon footprints and minimize people’s exposure to harmful fumes.” 

CLEAN Cooking Alliance https://www.cleancookingalliance.org/home/index.html  

Svati Bhogle’s work https://www.ashoka.org/el/fellow/svati-bhogle  

Kirk Smith’s work – https://www.ipcc.ch/2020/06/25/obituary-kirk-smith/ 

Walt Patterson’s work – https://www.waltpatterson.org/aboutwaltpatterson.htm  

Solar Cookers International – https://www.solarcookers.org/