Mechanical engineers at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) have developed specialized solar technologies to reduce carbon emissions in the cooking sector.
The innovative Institutional Solar PV Electric Steam Cooking Technologies (ISESC), created by KNUST’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, seeks to decarbonize institutional cooking, particularly in Senior High Schools (SHSs).
The ISESC system utilizes solar energy as its primary power source, using sand as a heat storage and transfer medium to generate steam for cooking various foods, including kenkey, rice, beans, plantain, and yam.
According to a brief shared with the media the technology significantly reduces carbon dioxide (CO2) and black smoke emissions in kitchens, thereby ensuring safer indoor air quality and providing health benefits for cooks and matrons.
The development of the ISESC technology is part of a research project funded by the Innovate UK (IUK) Programme under the Energy Catalyst 9 Project.
In an interview with the media, Dr. Richard Opoku, the Technical Lead of the project, revealed that the innovative technology had been successfully piloted in four SHSs, some of which had been spending as much as GHS 15,000 monthly on fuel.
He appealed for support from investors to scale-up the technology to cover over 700 SHSs across the country that heavily relied on fuel for cooking.
“If you spend GHS150,000 installing a certain part of our technology, the school can cover for the technology in 3 years and cut their expenditure on fuel for cooking,” Dr Opoku said.
According to Climate Impact Partners, burning wood and charcoal for cooking contributes over one billion tonnes of carbon emissions annually, accounting for 2 per cent of total global emissions—equivalent to the emissions from annual air travel.
It is estimated that about 22 million people in Ghana rely on solid fuels for cooking, with traditional cookstoves and open fires as primary means of cooking.
Toxic cookstove smoke contributes to a range of chronic illnesses and acute health impacts such as pneumonia, bronchitis, cataracts, lung cancer, cardiovascular disease.
The World Health Organisation estimates that harmful cookstove smoke is the fifth leading cause of death in developing countries.
Ghana’s Energy Transition Framework has targeted a total shift from fossil fuel to green energy in all sectors by 2060.
Dr Opoku said the deployment of solar technologies in the cooking sector could facilitate the achievement of zero emissions in the sector.
“The cooking sector is the most difficult area to reach net zero emission. It is therefore critical to deploy this solar technology to help achieve the target,” he said.
