Researchers From Loughborough University Participate In SMART Cooking Forum
Researchers from Loughborough University have taken part in a series of high-level talks on ensuring energy planning is integrated and inclusive of clean cooking at the SMART Cooking forum, held in South Africa last month.
The event brought together elected lawmakers and regulators from countries across Africa and South Asia to explore how integrated planning can help direct energy resources effectively and efficiently to where they are needed the most.
The forum involved representatives from the Loughborough-led Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) programme, The Climate Parliament (a global network of legislators working to mobilise government action on the climate emergency), and Sustainable Energy for All – which works in partnership with the United Nations (UN) and leaders in government, the private sector, financial institutions and beyond to drive faster action towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal for affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all (SDG7).
Around forty members of parliament and representatives from regulatory bodies from 15 countries, including Nigeria, Zambia, Kenya, India and South Africa, attended the event on 13th and 14th February 2023.
The forum centred on how planning for modern energy can be integrated, inclusive of all sections of society, and provide modern energy cooking on energy efficient devices that don’t harm people or the environment. The ‘SMART cooking’ theme focused on the benefits of applying ‘SMART’ indicators (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timebound) to the integration of clean cooking in electrification planning.
The presentations and discussions at the forum covered a range of issues, including the emergence of off-grid renewable energy to deliver electric cooking (eCooking), climate finance, and sustainable modern energy cooking services.
Among the sessions held at the event were a keynote speech on SMART cooking by Loughborough University’s Professor Ed Brown, MECS Research Director, and a roundtable discussion, chaired by Alicia Butterfield (MECS Partnership Manager), with sector experts and MPs to explore the steps governments should take to accelerate access to eCooking in their own countries.
Other MECS-led events included a session chaired by Dr Anna Clements and featuring a keynote address by Professor Matthew Leach exploring how carbon and climate finance can open up opportunities to accelerate access to eCooking.