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The Roads to Carbon Neutral - Season 4 - Episode 5 - LPG: The Recipe for Cleaner Cooking in Kenya

The Roads to Carbon Neutral - Season 4 - Episode 5

LPG: The Recipe for Cleaner Cooking in Kenya

The Roads to Carbon Neutral

The fourth season of our program entitled "The Roads to Carbon Neutral", in partnership with CNBC Catalyst, provides an insight into the solutions and innovations making the transition to low-carbon energy a reality and helping us achieve a carbon-neutral future*. These powerful on-the-ground stories are led by TotalEnergies' employees.

For this fifth episode, we are heading to Kenya with Judith Kowuoche, B2B LPG Manager. Both in Kenya and 17 other countries across the African continent, TotalEnergies supplies liquefied petroleum gas to communities without any access to the power grid, thereby promoting the development of clean cooking with its benefits for users’ health and the climate. The Company is also helping reduce gender inequality.

Judith Kowuoche, B2B LPG Manager:

It’s one of the things Chama is about is food. Today I’m cooking for my Chama members with LPG. LPG stands for liquefied petroleum gas. The burning of wood and charcoal are very harmful to humans. LPG is an alternative to solid fuel and it deposits low amount of carbon.

Being able to cook without polluting the air is so important to me and to the next generations of my family too.

I work for Total Energies in Nairobi, helping people transition to LPG. I love my job. I get to meet different people, I get to meet different customers. It makes me happy when I see them using LPG. The government plans to transition nearly four and a half million people from using kerosene and charcoal to LPG by 2028.

The effects of Woodfield are horrible, especially to children. In Kenya, there are about 23,000 deaths per year related to respiratory infections. LPG when it burns, it doesn’t make any soot or smoke, and it emits low amounts of carbon.

One of my favorite clients is Marian’s school. They were using wood fuel. I managed to transition them to LPG. They’re much happier because the walls were full of soot, but now they’re all smiley and happy.

Mike Wanjohi, Operations Manager Marion Farmhouse School:

In terms of health, I would say it’s much better. Our kitchen staff are much happier than before.

Catherine Mueni, Chef Marion Farmhouse School:

It’s perfect because you know when you’re cooking you can be able to reduce the light, the fire and also you can be able to know which food needs a lot of heat. So it’s really nice.

At least now we have relaxed, even our skin colour has changed. Oh yeah, I can see you’re glowing.

Judith Kowuoche:

Donnattah is the LPG depot manager. She’s a friend of mine and a close colleague.

Donnattah Khadambi, LPG Plant Manager TotalEnergies:

Over the last seven years, the LPG demand has doubled. We have an ambition of reaching 100 million customers in Africa and India by the year 2030. Our mission is to ensure that all households are using LPG as the main fuel.

Judith Kowuoche:

Women have been disadvantaged for very many years. For example, when they use wood fuel, they take a lot of time to go collecting the fuel.

If that use LPG, that time will be cut to almost nil. We have an app called Easy Gas. If you run out of gas, you’re able to get the gas at the touch of a button. I love Chama because it’s a time that we come to spend together. Today I’m going to be cooking with LPG for my Chama members, so I’ll be able to spend quality time with them and not spend a lot of time using wood fuel. So transitioning to LPG is helping empowering women and knowing we’ve done a little bit, help improve the lives of people in Nairobi and to make the world a better place too.

TotalEnergies, the leading distributor of LPG for cooking in Africa

TotalEnergies, a pioneer in distributing LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas in cylinders) across the African continent, currently supplies gas to approximately 11 million households, reaching nearly 40 million people in 17 countries and territories. As such, we are playing an active role in improving cooking conditions through a cleaner, safer and more sustainable form of energy.

In 2022, we had over 15 million LPG cylinders in circulation on the continent, with approximately a third in eight countries with limited access to clean cooking methods, namely Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Kenya, Uganda, Togo, Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Gabon.

Our ambition is to further increase the deployment of clean cooking solutions by 2030 to reach 85 million people in Africa. To achieve this aim, we will invest nearly $60 million a year across the continent.

In addition, we sell 170,000 cooking kits a year, including LPG burners and stoves, and we are developing innovative pay-as-you-cook solutions.

By allowing customers to buy only as much gas as they need without have to pay a costly deposit for the cylinder, these solutions are a major driving force for accelerating access to clean cooking for as many people as possible.

In Kenya, over 500,000 people benefit from this scheme, which is set to be extended to other neighboring countries.

    Burning wood and charcoal is extremely harmful to human health. LPG is a low-carbon alternative to solid fuels. Being able to cook without polluting the air is very important to me and to future generations.
    Judith Kowuoche B2B LPG Manager

    LPG for safer, cleaner and more sustainable cooking

    By replacing traditional cooking methods, such as wood, kerosene and coal, LPG can massively reduce carbon emissions and harmful particles.

    LPG is an energy that offers many advantages. It is efficient and it protects people's health and the environment.

    Discover the advantages of LPG for cooking

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    * TotalEnergies is committed to a balanced multi-energy strategy. Anchored on two pillars - hydrocarbons, particularly LNG, on the one hand, and electricity, the energy at the heart of the transition, on the other - the company is building a strong position to support its customers' energy transition. To find out more about our strategy: https://totalenergies.com/energy-transition.