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Discussion of climate, how it is changing, activism around that, the politics, and the energy systems change we need in order to stabilize things.
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How much each change to the atmosphere has warmed the world:
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My mother used gas stove tops her whole life. My dad has quite a bit of climate concern, and he convinced her to go to electric induction (after many years of argument, mind you).
3 years later, and neither of them would ever cook on gas again. Mum cannot believe how truly efficient electric induction heating is, and combined with their new solar panels, the only bill they've had to maintain since 2023 is the internet.
I think in Australia, there's a bit of a stigma against electric cooking, because in the 70s, 80s, electric cooking was achieved with really slow, inefficient resistance coils. I would submit that there will be an even greater acceptance of electric cooking once the older generation get the opportunity to try induction.
I'd convert to induction straight away if it were easy and cheap, but you need to have an electrician run a separate mains voltage cable to the cooktop. Having single brick walls inside basically means you wait until you're ready to remodel the whole kitchen.
Meanwhile, industrial emissions go brrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Electric heaters are cheap. And bonus: electricity is a whole lot cheaper than gas. At least out here.
A quick overview of prices I'd expect to see based on what I've got. (prices in euros)
20 for a stove 150 for an oven 80 for an airfryer 400 for a clothes dryer 200 for a sizable electric room heater 300 for a shower heater (this one I don't own, I went with the first option on google)
All just plug into the wall and work. Obviously you shouldn't plug them all on the same power group tho. Some of these might not be as easy on 120 volt sockets either
As a rule of thumb, I feel like replacing things as I normally would, but making sure I replace them with the most environmentally friendly option is the only thing that's financially sustainable.
Change needs to happen at scale, not from one person suddenly buying a new car, cooker, heater, fireplace all in one go. That said, if your replacing a cooker, choosing an induction hob is an absolute no brainer.
As an aside:
If your dryer runs on gas, consider air-drying your clothes.
What? I'm in the UK and a gas fuel clothes dryer sounds absolutely mental. Have I missed something?
What do I do with my gas fireplace? Anything I can do to make that useful if I go gas free? It’s kind of awkward to just have it exist there without purpose.
Depends if it was built originally as a gas fireplace. If it was converted from a wood burning fireplace to gas, it can be converted back.
You could also remove it completely and turn the space into a secret storage room!
It was built as gas, unfortunately. That is an interesting idea though. Secret compartment!
Yes!
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You can obviously get rid of it and board it up, but even with no fire, you can make a feature of it if you tile it nicely.
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Other fireplaces exist such as artificial electric ones, log fires and biofuel ones. Those all have their own emissions and benefits.
I live in the UK and did 1 a while back, we have candles in the space and a nice wooden mantelpiece. One thing I didn't expect is how much warmer the house now is. We obviously can't turn a fire on for heat, but when it's not on, not having heat pouring out the chimney makes a big difference.
I grew up with a gas stove but only have had electric for almost 20 years now. I love electric. It's so much more even baking, no worries about cold spots. The burners run a bit hot, but I'll just turn the burner off and let it run on the leftover heat for a bit. And I'm not as scared about gas leaks!
y'all are still using gas stoves? maybe they're just not popular where I'm from.