Resistance to climate change is also happening in your kitchen

According to this study, all methane emissions produced by the 43 million gas stoves used in the United States are equivalent to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 500,000 gasoline-powered cars per year.

These ranges emit between 0.8% and 1.3% of natural gas as unburned methane, a major greenhouse gas. Compared to carbon dioxide, methane has 86 times greater global warming potential in 20 years. And at least 34 times greater in 100 years.

More surprisingly, three-quarters of these emissions occur when the cooker is turned off.

” We found that methane emissions, when the gas cooker is turned off, account for more than three-quarters of the total methane emissions from it. And the total amount of methane released by gas cookers increases the climate impact of their use by 39%. “

Natural gas fumes are not only harmful to the environment, they also represent a health risk. A Stanford University study states that methane released by gas stoves threatens air quality.

Residents are more directly exposed to emissions from their stove than from their boiler. These fumes can include carbon monoxide and nitric oxides, which are responsible for certain respiratory diseases, such as asthma, according to the researchers.

In Canada, gas stoves are less common than in the United States, everything is taken into account. Their use remains modest: there are approximately 1.4 million gas stoves in the country, or 9% of all stoves in the residential sector, according to the latest figures since 2018.

In Quebec, 98,900 homes are equipped with gas stoves, or 3%. Although they represent only a small percentage of appliances used in homes, the situation is somewhat different in the catering sector.

Gas culture in restaurants

Well-known Quebec chef Normand Laprise is extremely concerned about the environment, but he admits the gas stove is part of the restaurant’s culture. My generation of cooks, the one before and the one after, rubbed us all, said Mr. Laprise, owner of the restaurant Toqué! to Montreal.

However, the chef is a fan of cooking with an induction hob, which he uses in his home and partly in his restaurant.

” If I had to redo all my cooking in the restaurant, I think that at the level of the cold pantry – for starters – and in the pastry, I would be completely induction. Maybe I’ll save gas for hot, i.e., for pieces of meat. “

But, according to the chef, a 100% electric shift may not be considered by all restaurateurs, especially because of the cost it represents. Rebuilding the existing facilities would be a huge cost, no restaurant would survive there, he explained. Having a gas inlet is cheaper than putting entire electrical boxes in the building.

Well-known chef Daniel Vézina, owner of Laurie Raphaël restaurant in Quebec, also has gas stoves in his restaurant. I’ve been in the kitchen for 40 years, he said. When you come home in the morning, it’s always like this: smell gas anywhere in the kitchen. Perhaps it was fluctuating smoke because the stoves were on all the time.

If he plans to buy an induction cooker for his residence, he said he still loves cooking with gas at his restaurant. There’s something organic about cooking with fire, she says. The job of a cook is to control the heat […] It is very innate as a cooking method, whereas induction is more cerebral.

In light of what science says, will he be willing to throw his gas stoves in the kitchen of his restaurant? I think I would be willing to do that gesture. We really need to reduce these GHGs, and all of these stoves emit methane. We know how harmful it is. I would be ready to make the effort, for sure it will be a habit to changehe replied.

Prohibit gas connection

The International Energy Agency (IEA) recommended in May 2021 a ban on new fossil fuel boiler sales in 2025 to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

In Canada, initiatives are emerging to limit the supply of natural gas to homes. Municipalities and provincial governments are beginning to legislate the use of residential energy.

For example, the Quebec government passed a law in December banning the installation of new oil-fired heating systems from 2024.

In Vancouver, any new heating system or hot water system should be carbon neutral by 2025. Nearly 60% of Vancouver’s GHGs come from burning natural gas for space and water heating, of which 28% for individual houses.

In Toronto, approximately 50% of GHG emissions result from the burning of natural gas in buildings. The City Council adopted a strategy in July 2021 that defines diverting from natural gas as a requirement to be carbon neutral by 2040.

For Montreal, the City aims to reduce its GHG emissions by 55% by 2030, with the goal of being carbon neutral by 2050. Is there a ban on natural gas connection to new constructions on the cards? The city says reflects May solutions consistent with established targets in its climate plan.

The federal government aims to reduce the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions by 40% to 45% over the next eight years, according to The 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan : Canada’s next steps for clean air and a strong economy, announced last week. Specifically, it provides $ 33 million to set up a support program for home renovations.

A movement that is gaining momentum in the United States

It will soon be impossible to plug in a gas stove in a new apartment in New York. The city passed a law in December to ban natural gas in new buildings, making the megalopolis America’s largest city to ban or restrict the use of natural gas for cooking or heating.

The use of natural gas for heating and cooking represents 10% of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. A third of the houses there are equipped with gas stoves. To achieve their carbon neutrality goals, cities do not want to further expand their distribution network.

This decision is part of a movement initiated by some Democratic cities that aims to restrict or ban natural gas in the residential sector. The first to do so was the town college of Berkeley, California, which passed such a law in 2019.

And the movement has grown: more than 50 cities in California have restricted or banned natural gas connections to new or existing buildings.

However, approximately twenty Republican states seek to curb municipal initiatives. This is particularly the case of Arizona, Texas, Florida or Tennessee, which legislate to make illegal any type of prohibition in this sense.