Govt urged to promote electric stoves, local manufacturing

Business Recorder reported that energy experts used a national consultation in Islamabad on Thursday to press the government for cheaper electric stoves and more domestic manufacturing, noting that just 51 percent of Pakistanis have access to clean cooking. They see this as a way to lessen the country's reliance on foreign-sourced gas, firewood and other older fuels. The event was jointly organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute and the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority.

NEECA Joint Director Dr Jamsheed Ali said Pakistan lags regional peers, with India above 80 percent clean cooking access and Bhutan at 92.8 percent. He called for tighter policies, financing options and better institutional coordination. SDPI Executive Director Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri added that biomass exposes rural families, especially women and children, to harmful emissions, while cities face gas shortages. He proposed winter power incentives and domestic output of low-cost electric stoves.

UNESCAP's Fadia Ahmadi cited household air pollution as a factor behind about 2.9 million premature deaths every year worldwide. Alicia Butterfield of the Global Electric Cooking Coalition noted that the country's solar capacity, estimated at 50 gigawatts, could underpin a large-scale move toward electric cooking. Experts concluded that cheap appliances, consumer awareness and state incentives are all needed for clean cooking to reach every household.