Promote electric cooking stoves to achieve universal access to clean cooking fuel
Universal access to clean cooking solutions should be a top priority for Georgia, and this target should be achieved by promoting electric cooking stoves. Policymakers can achieve additional benefits to reduce the impact of deforestation in rural communities.
Georgia has surplus electricity generation potential and it makes sense to use this surplus to promote electric cooking stoves. The technology is classed as Level 5 in the World Bank MTF for Indoor Air Quality Measurement. Electric cooking stoves are more efficient than other types of cooking stoves, including gas stoves. Electric cooking stoves can be generally divided into two types – solid plate and induction plate. While a solid plate cooking stove uses a heating element to pass radiant energy onto the food and reaches about 70 per cent efficiency, an induction plate cooking stove uses electromagnetic energy to directly heat pots and pans, and can be up to 90 per cent efficient. Promotion of electric cooking stoves will not only be cost-effective they will also improve the country’s energy security by reducing its dependence on imported petroleum products.