The following are important reasons for choosing electric cooking over cooking with gas; the climate, environmental, and health benefits are amplified when your electricity is renewably sourced.
1. What are the concerns with using fossil (“natural”) gas?
Fossil gas does burn relatively cleanly. However, despite best intentions and technologies, fossil gas leaks are rampant, from the origin at fracking well sites, throughout pipelines and compressor stations, and from the infrastructure under our streets and in our homes. These leaks release methane, unburned, into the atmosphere where it has enormous climate impact. Fossil gas is largely methane (95%) and methane is a super potent greenhouse gas — with 86 times the warming impact of carbon dioxide (over the first 20 years, which is the period that matters for mitigating climate impacts). Leaking fossil gas is neither clean, nor safe, nor efficient.
To complicate the dangers of fossil gas even more, the gas we use in our homes today is not our “grandparents’ gas.” All the fossil gas now being supplied to our region has been fracked, or mixed with fracked gas, and contains chemicals that linger from the fracking process. Many of the chemicals used in fracking fluid, including methanol, ethylene glycol, and propargyl alcohol, are considered hazardous to human health. However, the potential human health impacts of a majority of chemicals used in fracking formulas are also unknown. Although there are rules requiring disclosure of chemicals used in fracking, those rules often contain exclusions for “confidential business information (CBI).” EPA (the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) reviewed more than 39,000 chemical disclosure forms submitted to FracFocus from January 1, 2011, to February 28, 2013; it found that more than 70% of the forms listed at least one chemical as CBI and that 11% of all chemicals were claimed as such.
2. What are the health effects of cooking with gas?
In May of 2020, a report titled Health Effects from Gas Stove Pollution, by Brady Anne Seals and Andee Krasner, was released by the Rocky Mountain Institute, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Mothers Out Front, and Sierra Club. Mothers Out Front summarized the report as follows:
“Over 40 years of evidence indicates that gas stoves, common in kitchens across the United States, can lead to unhealthy levels of indoor air pollution. This report synthesizes expert findings into eight key points:
- Indoor air is largely unregulated and is often more polluted than outdoor air.
- Gas stoves can be a large source of toxic pollutants indoors.
- Indoor pollution from gas stoves can reach levels that would be illegal outdoors.
- There are well-documented risks to respiratory health from gas stove pollution.
- Children are particularly at risk of respiratory illnesses associated with gas stove pollution.*
- Lower-income households may be at higher risk of gas stove pollution exposure.
- Ventilation is critical but is not the sole strategy to prevent exposure.
Electric cooking is a cleaner household cooking option.
“The study concluded that replacing gas stoves with electric stoves produces the greatest decrease in indoor NO2 concentrations. The results show that the simple intervention of replacing a stove may not only dramatically reduce indoor NO2 levels in the kitchen but also throughout the home. Unlike relying on exhaust hoods or other pollution control options that depend on people using them, replacing a gas stove with an electric (including induction) stove can decrease pollutants at the source.”
* Children exposed to gas cooking have an increased odds of current asthma … and lifetime asthma, according to a 2013 study.
If you use a gas stove, it is important to provide and use adequate ventilation. See the research on Health Effects from Gas Stove Pollution.
3. What is induction stovetop cooking and why do I need to know about it?
Induction stovetops can cook faster, more safely, and with more-accurate control and easier cleanup — all while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving indoor air quality. Let’s focus on how amazing induction is:
- Induction is powered by electricity and electricity can be renewably sourced.
- Induction cooktops are extremely energy efficient, fast, and precise because induction technology transfers energy directly into magnetic cookware.
- Induction has become the preferred choice of many chefs and restaurants, as shown in the post “Professional Chefs Love Induction Cooking and You Should Too!”
- Unlike gas, electric coil, or glass top radiant electric cooktops, induction cooktops heat the pot through the energy between the metal pot and magnets beneath the smooth glass top — yet the smooth cooktop surface itself remains relatively cool. And unlike other cooking methods, it does not use flames or red-hot elements to cook. There is no loss of energy through radiating heat from the surface. Kitchens are cooler. Induction is safe for use around children, elders, and those who may forget to turn the stove off.
- Although induction technology has been around for 70 years or so, and has long been popular in Europe and Asia, it’s been slow to catch on with U.S. consumers — until recently. First introduced at the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1933, induction cooking now comprises 8% of the market share for cooktops and ranges, and that proportion is growing.
4. What other options are available to electrify the kitchen?
Electric appliances can be used for many cooking processes; examples of such appliances include pressure cookers, crock pots, rice cookers, electric kettles, air fryers, and counter-top oven appliances. Of course, these are available on the web or from bigbox stores, but consider going local and thrifty. Some of these items are commonly found at consignment stores, Goodwill, Savers, or the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. You can post your search (as an ISO/in search of) on local Facebook freebie pages, Freecycle networks, or Craigslist! For new items, consider shopping with local, independent retailers.
