The uptake of higher-tier (4+) clean cooking solutions, especially in last mile communities, is a critical but often underfunded and insufficiently prioritised need. Despite a diversity of viable technologies, including pure electric cooking (eCooking) powered by photovoltaic systems (solar PV) and PV-supported biomass gasifier stoves, as well as ethanol stoves, their widespread adoption remains a challenge due to various barriers, including upfront costs and low awareness among end-users about potential financial and health benefits. However, the decreasing cost of solar PV modules, and the increasing affordability of PV-supported clean cookstoves and appliances, have made that specific category of technologies more financially viable, cost-competitive and better aligned with the Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement on climate change (NDCs).
PV-supported cooking addresses both climate change mitigation and adaptation by reducing CO2 and other pollutant emissions by decreasing the dependence on unsustainably harvested biomass from local (and often fragile) ecosystems. With significant advancements and cost reductions in PV-supported clean cooking, scaling these solutions can help bridge the Emissions Gap and support several Sustainable Development Goals. Overcoming barriers to uptake requires supply and demand-side interventions, including affordable financing for viable business models discussed in this report, to facilitate household adoption of clean cooking technologies through scalable market-based approaches.
The report is co-published with the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Global Platform for Action on Sustainable Energy in Displacement Settings (GPA), in support of the objectives of the Global electric Cooking Coalition (GeCCo) and the multistakeholder Solar electric Cooking Partnership (SOLCO).
This report is an output of the Ikea Foundation-funded collaboration with Last Mile Climate, focused on policy and partnerships for sustainability and climate action at the Last Mile. More information, including links to previous outputs and activities, is available on the Last Mile Climate project page.
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