Interview with Carlos Gould for a University of California Sustainability event
Besides playing around with ๐ถโ๐๐ก ๐บ๐๐ ๐ฅ ๐๐ก๐ข๐๐๐ ๐บโ๐๐๐๐ last week I interviewed Carlos Gould for a University of California Sustainability event.
๐๐๐ฎ๐๐๐จ๐ซ + ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐
Ecuador offers a positive story in energy transition. Through decades of subsidizing LPG, Ecuador has been able to replace the use of wood with gas almost 100%. Theyโre now pioneering another shift – moving 700,000 homes to induction cooking powered by their hydroelectric resources.
India continues its transformation, providing gas stoves to 95 million households since 2015. Yet affordability remains a barrier โ 63% of families still use firewood. As Carlos noted, successful transitions require fuels that are “affordable, consistently and easily available.”
๐๐ก๐๐ง ๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ
I was home in California recently, where the gas-to-electric transition has become politically charged. When Berkeley attempted to ban natural gas in new buildings, restaurant groups pushed back with lawsuits, forcing a reversal of the policy.
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง
Around 2.5 billion people worldwide still use fuels like firewood and charcoal, resulting in ~2 mln premature deaths each year from the air pollution consequences. This accounts for about 7-10% of all deaths in low and middle income countries.
I was surprised to discover that gas cooking, though cleaner than wood, still produces indoor air pollution. ย Meanwhile Induction cooking is dramatically more efficient than gas. Apparently I need to get past my aversion to an electric stove.
๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐, ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐๐ข๐ซ๐๐ฌ, ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก
Wildfire smoke in cities – increasingly frequent with climate change – significantly impacts urban public health.
Carlos’s research shows wildfire smoke can increase “asthma related emergency department visits by 50 – 200%.” When urban areas burn, we face “toxic swirls of messes” from burning “homes, cars, batteries, bicycles.” in the “wildland urban interface”. These create particularly dangerous conditions for nearby populations.
Back in Europe, we face parallel crises โ last summerโs Alexandroupolis fire burned 960 kmยฒ in Greece, releasing particulate matter that drifted as far as Cairo.
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ก ๐ ๐จ๐ซ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐
Iโm left with three thoughts.
- Sequencing matters: Ecuadorโs phased approach (woodโgasโelectric) built public trust. But what sealed the deal were subsidies, affordability and easy, consistent supply.
- Framing the transition around health outcomes rather than carbon metrics can help resonate across divides.
- Urban wildfires demand new monitoring frameworks. Current air quality indices ignore benzene, lead, and lithium particles from burning cities.