Transition to Modern Energy in Cooking: Impact of COVID 19 pandemic on access to Clean Energy for Cooking
We are pleased to invite you to the 8th Talk on Transitioning to Modern Energy in Cooking. The topic for this session is Impact of COVID 19 pandemic on access to Clean Energy for Cooking. There is an enormous burden on the environment and health on account for burning of biomass/firewood for cooking, we aim to understand, how has pandemic impacted the progress on providing the access to clean fuels for cooking. Further, the pandemic has adversely impacted the daily wage incomes in most parts of the world and many households have also been forced to switch back to traditional fuels. Due to lockdowns and repeated waves of coronavirus, workers and daily wage earners in most parts of the world have been forced to stay back in their homes and largely indoors, resulting in higher exposure to household air pollution and the associated diseases.
The Talk Series is aimed at enabling the Transition to Modern Energy in Cooking. It is first of its kind, we have identified 12 modules for the Talk series, focusing on key aspects around access to clean energy for cooking, devices, research, market access, finance etc. The series is conducted by the MECS Programme through its In-Country Partner in India, Finovista along with other stakeholders. Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) Programme, a five-year initiative funded by UK Aid of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and led by Loughborough University and the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP). The MECS Programme aims to accelerate the global transition from traditional biomass-based cooking to modern-energy cooking solutions.
Transition to Modern Electric cooking requires universal access to clean energy for cooking, sustainable business solutions in the clean cooking domain including devices, access to finance, and consumers’ willingness to switch over to cleaner solutions. MECS Programme aims to closely work with the Indian Manufacturers and Clean Cooking Stakeholders to support innovation through investigations of Indian cooking and Modern Electric Cooking device requirements, pilots, sharing learnings from its research, and connecting Indian partners with others around the world and also develop India’s capability as the global hub for clean cooking device manufacturing. This aligns with various India’s missions viz Go Electric, Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India.
The current session would help us unravel the key trends that have emerged during the pandemic and how are these trends impacting the consumer’s paying capacity, willingness to switch over to cleaner cooking solutions, access to clean energy solutions, and energy infrastructure.