Solar Energy Transitions (SET): Inclusive e-cooking in sub-Saharan Africa

在全球范围内，24亿人仍然使用柴火、木炭或其他形式的生物质做饭，导致2020年320万人过早死亡-主要是妇女和幼儿-因为室内空气污染造成的严重健康问题。获得清洁的烹饪方法，如电烹饪，以取代不受控制的生物质燃烧，对于减少砍伐森林、缓解气候变化和降低使用者的健康风险至关重要。在卢旺达，190万户家庭仍然依靠木头和木炭做饭。为了解决室内空气污染造成的巨大健康问题--并实现全球可持续发展目标(SDG)--为所有人提供现代、负担得起的安全能源--卢旺达优先实施清洁烹饪计划，旨在到2026年为50万家庭提供新的或更好的清洁烹饪解决方案。太阳能电烹饪被认为是卢旺达实现清洁烹饪目标的关键。太阳能发电的成本已经大幅下降，对于许多家庭来说，使用太阳能电池板做饭预计会比使用木炭便宜。我们的愿景是，太阳能电子烹饪最终将伴随太阳能家庭系统，或成为太阳能家庭系统的一部分，该系统已经在许多非洲国家为灯和小家电供电而流行。然而，目前没有太阳能电子烹饪系统作为卢旺达清洁烹饪方案的一部分，现在的挑战是开发一种负担得起、有市场的太阳能电子烹饪系统，其服务和付款模式将吸引广泛的潜在最终用户，而不会加强现有的经济劣势。为了满足这一需求，该项目将把能源贫困家庭与学术研究人员、炉灶监测顾问、一家太阳能公司和卢旺达的区域能源供应商聚集在一起。他们将通过整合现有的太阳能产品，共同设计一种新的极具市场价值的低碳、清洁和负担得起的太阳能电子烹饪系统。该项目将成为帮助家庭摆脱依赖化石燃料的传统烹饪形式的起点，让社区有信心使用电子烹饪设备，并围绕离网太阳能电子烹饪做出购买决定。通过努力建立太阳能电子烹饪生态系统，将鼓励中小企业和资助者增加投资，为市场生产一系列太阳能电子烹饪产品，各国政府将能够为太阳能电子烹饪提供更有针对性的支持，以实现其清洁烹饪目标。

Globally, 2.4 billion people still use firewood, charcoal or some other form of biomass for cooking, resulting in 3.2 million premature deaths in 2020---mostly women and young children---due to the serious health issues caused by indoor air pollution. Access to clean cooking, such as electric cooking to replace the uncontrolled burning of biomass, is critical to reduce deforestation, mitigate climate change and reduce health risks for users. In Rwanda, 1.9 million households still rely on wood and charcoal for cooking. To address the massive health problems caused by indoor air pollution---and met the global Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of modern, affordable, and safe energy for all---Rwanda has prioritised a clean cooking program aiming to provide new or improved access to clean cooking solutions to 500,000 households by 2026\.The uptake of solar electric cooking is seen as critical for Rwanda to meet its clean cooking target. Solar electric energy costs have fallen so much that, for many households, electric cooking using solar panels is expected to be cheaper than using charcoal. Our vision is that solar e-cooking will eventually accompany or become part of solar home systems, which have already become popular in many African countries for powering lights and small appliances. However, currently, there are no solar e-cooking systems available as part of Rwanda's clean cooking programme.The challenge now is to develop an affordable and marketable solar e-cooking system, available with a service and payment model that will appeal to a broad spectrum of potential end-users, without reinforcing existing economic disadvantage. To address this need, this project will bring together energy poor households with academic researchers, consultants in cook stove monitoring, a solar energy company and Rwanda's regional energy provider. Together, they will co-design a new highly marketable low-carbon, clean and affordable solar e-cooking system by integrating existing solar products to arrive at a new whole system design.This project will be a starting point in helping households transition away from traditional forms of cooking that are dependent on fossil fuels, giving communities the confidence to use e-cooking appliances and make purchasing decisions around off-grid solar e-cooking. By working towards establishing a solar e-cooking eco-system, SMEs and financiers will be encouraged to increase investment in producing a range of solar e-cooking products for the market, and governments will be able to provide more targeted support for solar e-cooking to achieve their clean cooking targets.