Cooking Gas: TotalEnergies Plans $400m Investment To Empower 100m People In Africa, India
By Sunday Etuka, Abuja
TotalEnergies has announced plans to invest over $400 million in the development of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for cooking.
It also announced its ambition of giving 100 million people in Africa and India access to clean cooking by 2030.
To make clean cooking affordable for as many people as possible, the Company said, it would develop the use of digital pay-as-you-cook technologies that allow customers to pay only as they use the LPG cylinder, rather than having to pay the full value of the cylinder volume up front.
The company made the announcement at the ongoing Clean Cooking Summit in Paris, France, organized by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The Summit organised by the IEA, brought together over 1000 delegates, from governments, private sector, development partners, international organisations, philanthropies, and civil society, all driven by the shared objective of making 2024 a pivotal year for achieving universal access to clean cooking.
According to the IEA, more than 2.3 billion people worldwide do not have access to clean cooking solutions and still cook their meals on traditional stoves using wood and charcoal.
IEA said, “access to cleaner cooking fuels, such as LPG, helps: Improve people’s health thanks to better air quality, limiting the risk of respiratory complications and cardiovascular disease. Household air pollution is the second leading cause of premature death among women in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Reduce gender inequality by facilitating access to education, employment, entrepreneurship and, ultimately, financial independence for women. Clean cooking solutions represent a significant time-saver for people who would otherwise spend as much as 20 hours per week collecting wood for cooking purposes.
“Reduce CO₂ emissions and deforestation. Universal access to clean cooking solutions would result in emission savings of up to 1.5 billion tons of CO2 equivalent by 2030 (of which 900 million tons in Africa) – equivalent to the CO2 emissions produced by the air and maritime industries in 2022 or the deforestation of forests the size of Ireland each year”.
Speaking, the Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies said, “We praise this initiative by the IEA, which TotalEnergies embraces to promote access to reliable, affordable and sustainable cooking solutions for as many people as possible, in line with the Company’s purpose.
“By developing access to clean cooking in Africa and India, TotalEnergies aims to have a positive impact on the environment and on people’s health, while also helping to reduce gender inequalities in these regions. Clean cooking contributes to long-term social, economic and human development in a more sustainable way”, he said.
The company is already a major player in the distribution of LPG in cylinders, with more than 50 million people in Africa and Asia benefiting already from a reliable and cleaner energy.
