BLOG POST

The future of cooking is electric. Gas is an expensive, high-emission fossil fuel and as Australia moves to phase it out, we’re staying ahead of the curve. Every home at Society 1056 will house all-electric appliances which will lower emissions and household running costs, and create a cleaner, healthier indoor environment. This initiative exists to promote universal access to safe and sustainable cooking because no matter where you live or work, you deserve access to safe, sustainable, affordable cooking.

The Global Cooksafe Coalition, an unprecedented alliance of public health, environment, aid and development, property developers, and leading chefs, suggests that it’s time for a cooking revolution.

So why should we electrify our cooking?

Most of the world is still cooking with fuels that cause indoor air pollution that is, at its best, bad for our health and, at worst, deadly.

Gas, a polluting fossil fuel, remains the dominant cooking fuel globally. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 50% of the global population currently relies on gas, including LPG, as their primary cooking fuel. While many parents today would not expose their children to second-hand cigarette smoke, the effect of gas cooktops on the burden of childhood asthma is comparable to the impact of passive smoking in the household.

A 2013 meta-analysis found that children across the globe living in a home with a gas stove had a 42% increased risk of having current asthma, and a 24% greater chance of being diagnosed with asthma at some point
in life. This should come as no surprise, given the gas we burn in our homes releases toxic pollutants including nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and formaldehyde.

Gas stoves leak methane and other air pollutants even when they’re not being used. A new study released in October 2022 found that unburned gas contains harmful air pollutants, including toluene, hexene, xylenes, and benzene. Benzene has been linked to anaemia, reproductive disorders, and various forms of cancer.

Gas cooking drives climate change.

Burning gas remains the most common cooking method globally. Gas pollutes even when it is not being burned and when the stoves are off. It pollutes during production, processing, transport, and when there are leaks. And since its primary component, methane, has more than 80 times the warming power of CO2 in its first 20 years in the atmosphere, the potential for climate damage is even greater.

Electric cooking is affordable, safer, and more sustainable.

Induction technology has advanced to offer the most sophisticated cooktop experience today. Induction technology is safer, cooler, and easier to clean, which is why it is championed by leading chefs globally. While gas prices skyrocket around the world, solar power is the cheapest energy source in history. This has the power to transform safe cooking in residential homes.

For more reasons on why we should electrify cooking, visit the Global Cooksafe Coalition – cooksafecoalition.org, or download their fact sheet here.