Energy efficiency in daily food preparation

Abstract

The great progress in the energy efficiency of household appliances is primarily generated by the improved design of refrigerators, freezers, washing machines and dishwashers. In the long term, a positive effect on household electricity consumption is expected with increasing numbers of old appliances being replaced by new and more energy-efficient ones. Studies of electricity consumption in private households show that energy efficiency can also be improved by changes in consumer behaviour, in addition to improvements in the technical design of appliances. Consumer studies on behavioural aspects of electricity consumption related to large household appliances have already been conducted, but little information is available about cooking. However, the influence of consumer behaviour on energy consumption is particularly interesting where cooking is concerned. The most important processes of manual and machine food preparation shall therefore be investigated regarding performance and energy efficiency. This provides a basis for attempting to estimate the energy-saving potential of optimized cooking processes in order to obtain sound scientific information about the energy-saving potentials for the most typical and relevant cooking processes in European households, which are: A. boiling water (representing hot drinks, soups and parboiling process); B. brewing coffee (representing automated brewing processes); C. cooking potatoes (representing the cooking process itself); D. boiling eggs (representing automated boiling processes). The study shows that the energy consumption of typical household cooking processes varies greatly according to the chosen method. In the tests carried out for this study, the method making most sense in terms of energy consumption saved between 50% and 70% energy compared with the least favourable method. Based on the results, the authors provide recommendations on energy-saving cooking methods.