After thousands of households made one simple switch in their kitchens, Ecuador appears to be cooking its way to a healthier future and a less burdened health care system.
In August 2023, researchers revealed that hospitalization rates and harmful pollution likely declined "in lockstep" with the increased adoption of induction stoves over a six-year span.
As detailed by UC San Diego Today, the South American country's "program for efficient cooking" led to around 750,000 homes, or one-tenth of households, installing induction stoves from 2015 to 2021.
The study's analysis, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, examined 9.6 million hospitalizations, including data from before the program's launch.
It found that hospitalization rates for all illnesses, including respiratory diseases, dropped by 0.74% in areas where an additional 1% of households participated in the program. Cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (a lung disease) that required hospitalization declined by roughly 2.1%. In other words, hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations were avoided.
Unlike gas stoves — which release toxic fumes from a dirty fuel directly into homes, including some linked to cancer — induction equipment runs on electricity. Any pollution generated from the grid occurs at the power plant.
However, as noted by UC San Diego Today, Ecuadorian households had the added benefit of their grid running on hydroelectricity, a clean form of energy that uses water to create power. While residential electric use increased by 5%, planet-warming pollution decreased by a net 7% over the six years of data.
"Our study expands the growing body of evidence suggesting that gas-to-electric transitions, when the grid is green, can achieve both climate and health benefits," said lead author Carlos Gould, Ph.D., an assistant professor at UC San Diego's Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science. "Ecuador is a remarkable case study for this kind of large-scale transition."
At this time, most of the grid in the United States still depends upon dirty energy, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, but there are plenty of reasons for Americans to be optimistic about their clean-energy prospects at home.
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For one, the World Resources Institute noted that the U.S. increased its solar capacity at record levels in 2023. Additionally, the Inflation Reduction Act has been driving the adoption of cleaner technologies, including by providing tax incentives for induction stoves.
If investing in a new full-size stovetop isn't immediately possible, individual induction burners, like those from Duxtop, are an option. The company's portable burner is less than $100 and is a savvy solution for apartment dwellers who may be unable to upgrade their equipment.
Finally, some U.S. states and cities are implementing policies to support a cleaner infrastructure. Last year, New York banned gas stoves and furnaces in most new structures.
"Residential electrification programs that aim to either ensure that new buildings do not install gas lines or to incentivize the replacement of gas appliances with electric ones are already happening in communities such as San Francisco or are targeted in the near- to medium-term future in Boston and in New York City Housing Authority buildings," Gould highlighted further to UC San Diego Today.
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