Cooking energy savings achieved with an insulated metal pressure cooker using kapok wool: Economic and environmental implications

In order to improve scientific knowledge on this technology to promote its use, we conducted an experimental study of the metal pressure cooker insulated with kapok wool, a biodegradable plant fiber, to determine the energy performance. The equipment allows to finish cooking meals only thanks to the heat stored at the beginning of cooking and to keep the cooked dishes warm for long hours. The experiments carried out on energy savings when cooking some local dishes cooked only in water revealed about 70% savings in butane gas for cooking cowpea and white rice, 38% for cooking oily rice, 75% for pasta and couscous and 30% for cooking potato stew. The average cooking energy saving is around 39%. Finally, we completed these results with a technical, economic and environmental study that showed that a restaurant that adopted a pressure cooker had recouped its investment after only 7 months and made net profits of 131,818 CFA francs during the first year of use. If we consider all the restaurateurs in the city of Ouagadougou, the energy savings made would save approximately 12,691 hectares of forest/year and avoid importing nearly 2,824 tons of butane gas each year. These results demonstrate that this technology can help minimize energy consumption in the restaurant sector.