Cooking in a global energy crisis

Most of us do not think about geopolitics when we turn on the gas stove. But the current global crisis has highlighted an uncomfortable reality: our kitchens are not insulated from instability. Wars and international trade disruptions are affecting the availability and affordability of essential fuels, including liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), used in the kitchens of millions of Indian households.

While LPG has improved convenience and reduced indoor air pollution compared with traditional fuels, it is derived from fossil fuels and remains dependent on global fossil-fuel markets. The current crisis has exposed how vulnerable our kitchens are to geopolitical instability. 

This is both a health and an environmental issue. The choices one makes at home are closely connected to the larger crises of our time. Cooking energy is one of the most vivid examples of this connection--and one of the most actionable.

May households still cook using firewood, charcoal and agricultural waste. These fuels may seem accessible, but they carry a heavy cost: deforestation, environmental degradation, and the chronic health impacts of severe indoor air pollution. These burdens fall disproportionately on women and children. LPG improved this picture significantly, but as recent events have shown, dependence on a single fossil-fuel source is itself a vulnerability. It leaves households vulnerable to disruptions caused by war, trade restrictions, or price shocks. The need of the hour is diversification and sustainability in cooking and energy.

The good news is that alternatives exist, and India is better placed than many countries to adopt them.

Electric cooking—through induction cooktops and electric stoves—uses energy far more efficiently than conventional gas. When electricity is generated from renewable sources such as solar or wind power, electric cooking becomes an environmentally responsible option. Paired with India’s rapidly expanding solar energy capacity, it becomes a genuinely low-carbon solution. In the not-too-distant future, a household with rooftop solar panels may be able to cook using electricity generated from its own roof. That is energy independence in the most literal sense.

Biogas is another option that deserves greater attention than it currently receives. Household and community biogas plants convert organic waste such as kitchen scraps, agricultural residues and animal manure into methane for cooking while producing nutrient-rich fertiliser as a byproduct. In rural settings, biogas can reduce reliance on both firewood and fossil fuels while strengthening local energy resilience.

Solar cookers, while dependent on sunlight and not a complete replacement for conventional cooking, can meaningfully reduce fuel consumption in sun-abundant regions. And where biomass continues to be used, improved cookstoves that burn more efficiently and produce far less smoke offer a practical, affordable transitional solution.

No single technology will work for every household or every region. But the principle is clear: diversification is resilience. A household that draws on renewable electricity, biogas and efficient stoves is far less exposed to the next global energy shock than one that depends entirely on imported LPG.

The broader point is that sustainability is not only the business of large industries and international climate negotiations. It lives in the everyday choices made in millions of homes. When cooking choices improve across populations, the cumulative effect on carbon emissions, air quality and public health is significant.

Governments have an important role to play through policies that support renewable energy adoption, promoting clean cooking technologies, and making alternatives affordable and accessible. But public awareness matters just as much. Many households are unaware that alternatives exist or that their cooking choices can influence both environmental and health outcomes.

We are increasingly recognising that climate change, environmental sustainability and human health are deeply interconnected. The concept
of planetary health tells us that human wellbeing and the wellbeing of the Earth are inseparable. In a world of mounting climate pressures and global instability, the kitchen is no longer just where we feed our families. It is where we make choices that will feed, or fail, the generations that follow. 

(Alexander is the chair of the Health and Environment Leadership Platform [HELP], and Divya is an independent research consultant in health policy. They edited the 2021 Routledge publication, Climate Change and the Healthcare Sector: Healing the World) 

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.