BURN Launches Africa’s First Large-Scale Electric Cooking Carbon Project

Listing by Gold Standard marks critical milestone in company’s ambition to scale access to electric cooking in Africa  

Nairobi, Kenya (March 4, 2024) – Africa’s leading clean cooking company and carbon project developer, BURN, announced today that its electric cooking project has been listed by Gold Standard. This project is the first large-scale e-cooking carbon project of its kind for the continent and a breakthrough in access to clean cooking. To make its e-cooking appliances affordable to low-income households, the company is leveraging both carbon funding and “pay as you cook” financing.  

BURN’s innovative e-cooking product suite is currently rolling out across six African countries. These appliances feature cellular-enabled IoT technology that allows for real-time monitoring of energy usage and will generate credits by utilizing the Gold Standard Methodology for Metered and Measured Energy Cooking Devices. 

Bringing electric cooking to Sub-Saharan Africa can eliminate the health and environmental issues caused by cooking. Today, 600 million people in the region have access to electricity and 80% of urban households are grid-connected. But only 5% of these households use electricity to cook. BURN's goal is to dramatically scale up access to e-cooking. 

“Carbon financing is critical to bring electric cooking to the continent. We’re thrilled to have Gold Standard officially list our projects and to positively impact hundreds of thousands lives as well as address the environmental impacts caused by cooking with traditional fuels,” said Peter Scott, Founder and CEO of BURN. “The Gold Standard listing marks a pivotal milestone, enabling us to certify a carbon asset with unmatched integrity. Bringing digital monitoring and our industry-leading electric cookstoves together, we’re setting a new benchmark for the future of clean cooking on the continent.” 

When households transition from traditional cooking fuels to electricity, they eliminate exposure to indoor air pollution, reduce carbon emissions, and help halt deforestation. This switch can cut annual CO2 emissions by approximately 2-3 tons per household. 

“Clean cooking projects not only improve household health, but also significantly reduce carbon emissions – the definition of a win-win,” said Margaret Kim, CEO of Gold Standard. “I take great pleasure in seeing innovative approaches like our Metered and Measured Cooking Device methodology achieving real world impact, and congratulate BURN on this milestone.” 

In Sub-Saharan Africa, cooking with traditional cooking fuels – like firewood or charcoal – contributes significantly to household air pollution and in turn, premature deaths. Each year, 3.2 million people die prematurely from illnesses caused by household air pollution from cooking. Additionally, wood fuel used for cooking is a major driver of deforestation on the continent. Globally, the production and use of traditional fuels for cooking is estimated to contribute to 3% of global emissions. 

About BURN  

Founded in 2011, BURN was created to save forests by revolutionizing the cookstove sector. While traditional, inefficient cookstoves can bankrupt families, damage their health, and destroy forests, BURN’s best-in-class stoves can save families money on fuel, limit indoor air pollution and protect forests. BURN is now Africa’s leading clean cooking company and one of the only carbon project developers to cover the full carbon value chain, from project design and in-house monitoring to credit issuance. Headquartered in Kenya and with direct operations in 9 African countries, BURN employs 2,500 people across Africa. The company has made and distributed nearly 4.4 million clean cookstoves, transforming the lives of over 24 million people and preventing over 20 million tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. Learn more at burnstoves.com.