MECS – Modern Energy Cooking Services

Background

1.8 billion people have access to electricity but still cook with biomass. Load shedding, weak grids, affordability of electricity, accessibility of liquid petroleum gas (LPG), tradition, perceptions, and a lack of suitable cooking appliances all act as barriers to scaling up the use of electricity or gas for cooking – clean cooking.

We already know that increasing access through renewable energy generation is becoming more affordable and opening new windows of opportunity. New business models and smart monitoring are improving the reliability of LPG distribution, appliances can be made more energy efficient but still cook favourite foods so they taste right, and cooking with electricity is becoming increasingly affordable with issues of reliability and sustainability being overcome.

We want to build on these opportunities and the new knowledge emerging from the MECS programme to break out of business-as-usual approaches and rapidly accelerate the transition from biomass to clean cooking on a global scale.

MECS are looking for a consultant or consultancy team to conduct desk-based research on the question of ‘what are the key drivers and constraints for MECS in institutional settings?’. The assignment includes the creation of a database of available literature on cooking in institutional settings and a literature review on the drivers and constraints in institutional cooking settings. Interested applicants should refer to the full ToRs (access here) and submit a proposal no later than Monday 25 May 2020 at 23:59 GMT.

Database Details