Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are gases in the atmosphere that raise the surface temperature of planets like Earth. They absorb wavelengths of radiation, resulting in the greenhouse effect. The Earth is warmed by sunlight, causing its surface to radiate heat, which is mostly absorptible. GHGs like carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, and nitrous oxide keep the Earth warmer than it would be without them. Propane and butane are safe, non-toxic, and environmentally friendly fuels that provide a great source of energy.
In the right amounts, greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, are helpful, rather than harmful, because they help regulate the temperature of the Earth. However, not all greenhouse gases are created equally, and their varying global warming potential is an important distinction among them.
Greenhouse gases vary in not only their sources and measures needed to control them, but also in how intensely they trap solar heat, how long they last once they’re in the atmosphere, and how they contribute to global warming. Methane has a much shorter atmospheric lifetime than CO2 (around 12 years compared with centuries for CO 2) but is a much more potent greenhouse gas, absorbing global carbon emissions from heating and cooling.
Butane, a non-CH4 volatile organic compound, is increasingly used as a replacement for chlorofluorocarbons and some greenhouse gas refrigerants. Burning butane gas releases CO2 just as any other combustion reaction does. It is a greenhouse gas, but it is not a long-lived one.
Over a 20-year timeframe, methane is 86 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Propane and butane are safe, non-toxic, and environmentally friendly fuels that provide a great source of energy.
📹 Is CNG methane or butane?
Unveiling the Mystery: Is CNG Methane or Butane? • CNG Truth Revealed • Discover the cleaner and eco-friendly alternative to …
How bad is butane gas?
Butane is a highly harmful volatile substance that can cause sudden sniffing death, a heart attack, or cardiac arrest if the person is stressed or engages in heavy exercise. This is due to the sensitization of the heart to adrenalin effects, which can lead to cardiac arrest. It is crucial not to chase or frighten people using butane, as death can result from direct toxic effects, cardiac effects, or central nervous system depression. Most volatile substance-related deaths are associated with aerosols or gas fuels like butane or propane, with many occurring from sudden sniffing death.
Is butane dirtier than propane?
Proponents argue that propane and butane are better for the environment than other fossil fuels due to their non-toxic, clean-burning nature, lower carbon content, and high heating value. In 2010, a UK government department found that propane and butane together produce around 29% less CO2 emissions than gas, oil, or coal when used to produce electricity. Liquefied natural gas (LPG) is also cheaper to buy than petrol or diesel, making it more attractive for poorer people in developing countries like India.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that LPG has a global warming potential (GWP) of 0 and is not listed as a greenhouse gas. Carbon dioxide has a GWP of 1 and methane (natural gas) has a GWP of 28-36 over 100 years. Therefore, propane and butane together as LPG are a cleaner fuel than other alternatives.
Is butane harmful to the environment?
The TCEQ establishes regulatory guidelines for butane, which have not been demonstrated to have adverse effects on plants, with the objective of protecting human health and welfare by setting various air quality guideline levels.
Is butane better than methane?
Methane, a potent gas, is produced naturally through submerged vegetation decomposition and makes up the majority of natural gas deposits. It is used as a fuel source in various equipment, generates electricity, sanitizes products, and creates fertilizers. Propane, on the other hand, is primarily used as a fuel source, powering forklifts and grills, and is an excellent home heating agent for those without access to natural gas. The use cases for methane and propane vary, with methane being more potent and propane being more versatile.
Is butane a renewable fuel?
Flexi posits that butane is not a renewable resource, given that it is a hydrocarbon derived from fossil fuels such as natural gas and petroleum, which took millions of years to form.
Are butane and propane greenhouse gases?
Propane and butane are safe, non-toxic, and environmentally friendly fuels that provide energy and emit significantly fewer greenhouse gas emissions. They are three of the most common hydrocarbon gases, each with a unique solution to common and not-so-common energy needs. Ferrellgas, one of the largest propane companies globally, has been in business for over 80 years. Propane is easily transportable, making it suitable for areas without natural gas service, and more environmentally friendly and cost-effective than electricity.
It is one of the lightest hydrocarbon gas mixtures, with three carbon atoms and eight hydrogen atoms, and is commonly illustrated using the chemical equation C3H8. Ferrellgas is known for its expertise in propane, making it a valuable resource for homes, farms, businesses, and fleets.
What are the problems with butane gas?
Butane, stored at low temperatures and pressure, can’t flow out of a tank when the exterior temperature drops to zero or less, unlike propane which can withstand lower temperatures and continue to flow out. Propane can be used to switch from butane to propane using the correct injectors. However, common problems with gas heaters are that each type has its own unique issues, but all gas heaters have common issues. To determine which LPG is best for your heating needs, read the article “Propane or Butane: Which LPG is best for your heating needs?”
What type of gas is butane?
Butane is a liquefied petroleum gas (LP gas) that has a superior combustion efficiency compared to gasoline and coal. In 1849, British chemist Edward Frankland accidentally synthesized butane when he reacted ethyl iodide and zinc. However, he misidentified the substance due to the ethyl radical dimerizing and interfering with the identification process. The initial synthesis of butane remains a topic of ongoing investigation.
Is butane a natural gas?
Natural gas liquids (NGLs) are hydrocarbons composed of carbon and hydrogen, including ethane, propane, butane, isobutane, and pentane. They have various uses across various sectors of the economy, including petrochemical plants, space heat and cooking, and vehicle fuel. Higher crude oil prices have led to increased NGL prices, encouraging oil and natural gas producers to drill in liquids-rich resources with significant NGL content. Ethane is the largest share of NGL field production, primarily used to produce ethylene, which is then turned into plastics.
Propane is burned for heating and is used as petrochemical feedstock. A blend of propane and butane, known as “autogas”, is popular in Europe, Turkey, and Australia. Natural gasoline can be blended into various fuels for combustion engines and is useful in energy recovery from wells and oil sands. NGL field production is growing in the United States, representing an important part of the supply picture. However, concerns over processing and distribution constraints in the coming years are expected.
Is butane gas healthy?
Inhalation of butane gas has been linked to a range of short-term health issues, including dizziness, drowsiness, nausea, headaches, fluctuating blood pressure, memory loss, and, in rare cases, death. This latter effect is known as Sudden Sniffing Death Syndrome. The long-term effects of butane inhalation include:
Does butane produce greenhouse gases?
Butane, which is not a greenhouse gas, is being employed with increasing frequency as a substitute for chlorofluorocarbons and certain greenhouse gas refrigerants.
📹 I Measured the Pollution From My Gas Stove. It Was Bad.
There’s been a lot of news about gas stoves. At first, I was skeptical about the panic over these appliances. But then I measured …
My last house came with an old style electric stove (the coils). I figured I would eventually replace it… turns out I never needed to because it worked just fine! ALSO repairing it when a part broke was simple and VERY cheap. I’m decent at DIY at best, from start to finish doing a repair took like 15 minutes and cost about $40 for a part off Amazon. That oven was perfect, maybe ugly but a total work horse… and apparently safer.
I’m getting gas disconnected from my home this week! I’ve been using a pair of portable induction stoves from IKEA to cook, until I get around to removing my gas cooktop and replacing it with induction. I’d been putting off disconnection from gas because I thought it was a complicated process, but it turns out it’s really straightforward – just a phone call and a disconnection fee, and no more gas bills!
As long as they make exceptions for people living outside city limits to keep, maintain, replace, or install in new construction. I know many city people don’t actually use their kitchen for cooking. But people living outside town it’s not uncommon for a big storm to take down the power lines. And while a power outage lasting more than a day is a somewhat rair event, that same storm might knock out the power for a week for someone living outside of town. Yes I know camp stoves are a thing, there also not as safe as a gas range.
When I was a kid, we didn’t have electric igniters on our gas stoves. Every burner had a pilot light running 24 hours a day. Just a small breeze would extinguish them. Sometimes we would come home to a house reeking of gas because the pilot lights went out while we were gone. Of course houses from this era literally had no insulation. So that probably actually helped with the indoor air quality. Oh, did I mention that no one had carbon monoxide detectors? Amazingly enough, we all survived.
I cooked with gas all my life at home and in professional kitchens. I stopped cooking in restaurants and for my home adopted induction. I will never go back. It’s almost more precise than the average cook would need. Most people still don’t know about it and have never tried an induction cooktop. I promote it and let friends, guests and acquaintances give it a try.
the problem with this kind of prohibition at a federal level is that it affects places like Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, where we usually have our houses open to the elements and not fully sealed as in the mainland. this would only make our living situation in the islands much much much worse since electricity cost here are so damn high while propane is a cheap way to cook our meals. Leave this to the states and territories to regulate.
My friend, who works at a high-end restaurant, told me that their entire kitchen except for two burners was switched over to induction. The kitchen is probably 15 degrees C cooler than it was before. If you’ve ever worked in a large, busy kitchen during the summer, this is absolutely a health improvement too. Being in a 40C kitchen for hours is absolutely exhausting and can make you go crazy. Not to mention the sweat — but maybe it’s better not to think of that … The only reason they kept the two gas burners was because they sometimes have dishes that basically demand a wok and induction and electric simply can’t heat the sides of the wok effectively.
I have to throw the BS flag on the methane issue. People familiar with swamp gas know that it is primarily methane, which comes from the breakdown of grass of one sort or other, and other vegetation. But whether grass breaks down under water or out in a field, the methane is released. And if a cow eats grass, guess what. Grass breaks down into methane inside the cow and cow farts result. Poor cows get blamed for what the grass was going to do anyway. No need to do away with cows. Should we do away with grass? Of course not. All of this hyperawareness and hyper blame of methane has just gone too far.
Thank you for the great article. One of the things I’ve encountered in discussions with family and friends is the idea that replacing gas entails a whole new electrical panel and potentially a whole house electrical upgrade. I don’t think many people are aware that if you have a gas stove, and are unsure about induction, you can buy a cheap single-unit induction hob/plate that uses as much power as a microwave, boils water twice as fast, and does everything the gas burner does, while avoiding any big commitments. It doesn’t solve the methane leak issue, but it does enable people to gain familiarity, which is one of the biggest obstacles. And it definitely doesn’t require an outlay of thounds of dollars/euros to start making the switch. I think this should be included explicitly in content trying to reach those who aren’t persuaded.
The reality is that cooking with electricity is creating more emission as power plants are still 40% fossil fuel based, With generation and transmission loss, you are only using 25% of energy from fossil fuel source and loses 75% to transmission. You are actually burning more gas / coal etc when cooking with eletric stove than burning that gas directly in your kitchen. I can’t argue about health effects, but we lived with gas stove all my life, and no asthma, and if you care so much about trace amount of NO2, you should not walk in congested streets, and eat only organic food, as regular food are jammed with pesticides and preservatives, completely overwhelming the miniscule amount of chemicals from gas stove.
There is, however, one gigantic problem with switching to induction stoves: you need to use pots and pans that are fully compatible with the way induction stoves work . Unfortunately, that could mean getting a full set of new pots and pans, and that could cost a huge amount of money for the quality pots and pans that work specifically with induction stoves.
I feel like some people are acting a bit irational, i understand that they should be replaced but replacing them ASAP and using portable induction stoves is a bit of overcorrection. it’s not that hazardous(we have been using them for a decades and it’s not like they are leaking radioactive isotopes) that they should replaced immediately just whenever is possible. It feels that the trope of the goverment hiding the truth to avoid mass hysteria is becoming more realistic by the day.
The nerd in me really appreciates you doing this. That same nerd also has some questions and responses… 1) The Stanford team found that gas stoves give off 28 gigagrams (domestic) of methane (CH4) in a year. Sounds like a lot. But a researcher at Duke University noted that human flatulence gives off about 500 gigagrams (worldwide) of CH4 in a year. If our farts release that much methane … well, then we’re missing some context on this. 2) I wonder why you choose NO2, and not something more nefarious? While the science suggests that very high levels of NO2 exposure (I think higher than what you measured, but that varies from study to study) can trigger an EXISTING asthma condition, the same studies (at least, the independent non-industry-backed ones) find no evidence linking long term exposure to the development of asthma. It would be interesting to tease out what this means in the article a bit, rather than just hear an expert say how dangerous it is without context as to what that means. 3) The world does know a lot about actual causes of asthma. For instance, the leading causes (and triggers) of asthma in the house are things like dust, dander, the materials used to build modern homes (PVC, formaldehyde, petrol-based synthetics, etc…), and the kinds of mold and bacterial strains that grow on these materials. The wealth of studies on this is huge, but rarely reported. I wonder. Why. Could you perhaps cook up an episode on this? 4) Given the scientific literature, the best way to reduce respiratory issues would be to ventilate and/or purify air in our homes better (regardless of the cooktop we use) .
I’m a huge fan of induction, but am kind of pissed that it gets luxury pricing compared with the same stoves in Europe. Please know these companies are using induction as a newer magic technology when it has in fact been out for decades. Just because USA is now catching up does not mean we need to pay 2-5x as much for the same product. Also don’t tell me they have to mark them up higher because they don’t sell as many, because online sales and warehousing makes this a non issue.
I’m already planning to get an induction cooktop and stop using my gas range. I don’t cook a lot, but I’m concerned because my cat is showing signs of asthma or some kind of respiratory illness, and this could be due to my use of gas. I have a countertop electric oven that I have been using for years in preference to my gas range oven. Fortunately for me, my kitchen is already wired for an electric range, so this transition isn’t going to be too difficult.
In my area, it’s code that gas stoves mus have a range hood that is vented outside, not the recirculating type. Also, as far as indoor air quality goes, I’d like to see a study that compares illness due to gas stoves vs illness due to all the volatile organic compounds people willingly spray around their house each day. All the scented products, air fresheners, perfumes, essential oil diffusers, disinfectants, and odour adsorbers like febreeze.
Thank god this issue is finally getting the attention it deserves. People used to look at me like I was crazy for being disappointed that whatever apartment/home I was looking to rent was equipped with a “luxury” gas stove/oven. My last rental’s oven was poorly ventilated and filled the house with fumes and unburned gas that aggravated my asthma to the point I never used it and instead resorted to a countertop toaster oven for everything.
The real question is whether a properly functioning range hood, with a real external vent, is effective at reducing these levels. This article simply glosses right over that question. The “leaky” nature of gas stoves is simply a design issue if regulations required the manufacturers to fix that problem. Also how much better is the air quality when the food is cooked (or burned) on electric stoves? I would guess that various gasses and particulates are still produced.
I’ll replace mine when I’m damn well good and ready. The government or anyone else for that matter has no business in my kitchen. If you’re so concerned about the health of people and the environment then talk to the millions who burn dung to cook their food and let’s see the response you get from them.
Really good production quality for a first article on this website! Some constructive criticism: your article ended pretty abruptly with just the sentiment “gas is bad”. I feel like the article would benefit from some recommendations on what we can do if we already DO have gas stoves, a segment on “where do we go from here?”, etc.
I love my gas appliances and had no idea they were potentially dangerous until just a few years ago. I recently put a carbon monoxide/combustible gas meter above my stove and when I run the oven (but not a burner) it shows in the 50-80 ppm zone which is getting dangerous if you don’t have good ventilation. I’ll likely be switching to an electric oven, I might keep a gas cooktop for convenience though because electric is such a pain.
Thanks for the informative article. Id like to ask 2 questions. 1) I keep seeing the consequences of using a gas stove for children, but haven’t seen any for adults. Are there any studies or specific consequences for adults who breath this in every day? 2) What can we do if we don’t have a choice? I won’t be switching from gas for at least a few years… does running the exhaust fan help? It’s my only option as of right now.
We just finished building our new home. We wired and plumbed the kitchen for both propane and electric, and we’d planned on installing a gas stove. But, in the last few months we read about how much natural gas and propane leaks into the atmosphere from the well head to your gas line to your stove, about 10%! Methane, as a greenhouse gas is 80 times worse than CO2. That was enough! We installed an induction stove.
I’m 61. I’ll be keeping my gas stove until something better comes out. I do not like cooking with electric and I don’t like spending 100% on electricity for heating in deadly cold weather. I only cook with natural gas 90 minutes per week. No one cooks over 7 hours per week. Esp. With microwaves. I remain skeptical. Did you use an exhaust fan at all during cooking?
My husband developed COPD, so there is no candle burning, spray sanitizer or perfumes…and definitely no toxic fumes from any source. Our house is now totally electric and HEPA filtration throughout. In some areas of the country where fresh air still exists, the quality of indoor air is worse in many homes than outdoors. Lately, the wildfires out West have made it so, people with certain health conditions must stay inside, so indoor air quality is their only option.
Newer houses houses use induction but older houses (mine) we still use gas bottles for cooking and shower with on demand heater the newer heater (mine) have extraction ventilation and in the stove we also have extrater ventilation, I don’t my meter could handle the induction stove unless I upgraded the potency,gas bottles are at about 35€.
I am concerned about indoor air quantity in my home, but my home has an open floor plan. The kitchen, breakfast nook/informal dining room, family room (w/22 ft ceiling), foyer, and dining room pretty much flow one into the other. The upstairs level opens to the family and their is an air extractor in the ceiling that runs 24/7. It’d be interesting to run an air quality test here.
The question i want to see stats on is – what are the indoor pollution levels comparing a properly outdoor vented stove, vs vents that only filter and recycle air into the house? I have cooked with gas for close to 25 years. I absolutely love it. I am vented outdoors. I also cook on infrared range at the cottage. The response time on the infrared is absolutely horrible. Gas, is instant and constant at any level I choose, not the full blast cycling of electric. Yes, I get it, the planet is warming. But cooking with electric powered by gas or coal fired generated electricity, accomplishes nothing if its the larger environment you are worried about. I do totally agree, if indoor NOx levels are too high, and the only fix is replace the stove, then sure, but knocking a hole in the wall and putting a vent in, is easy to do, and way cheaper than new stove. Running a 240 volt cable to a new stove can be an expensive pain to install. New appliances have a very poor shelf life. Quality is poor. Old gas stoves are forever.. just vent them right !
This stuff really concerns me as a new parent. Couple questions for your data. Did you use your fan while cooking? Is your kitchen near a window to help improve air flow? Unfortunately it would be 5k+ to swap out my gas stovetop and I’m not even sure how much to replace my oven too. It’s out of my price range at this moment so I’ve resorted to using a portable induction stove top and it’s not ideal.
I use a ventless gas fireplace in my basement 8 hours a day, because I work from home and don’t want to heat my whole house. That uses tons more gas than a gas stove. It’s got my wondering what my levels are. But I’ve been using this for years, during the cold months and no negative health impacts, that I’ve noticed yet. It’s got me worrying now though…
This is why every time I use the gas stove, I have to ventilation on. The ventilation is extremely strong. It’s like 22 cubic meter per minute, and I’m using it at exactly that when cooking. He can drawn out carbon monoxide carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide. I’ve always tell my family to have the strongest ventilation on, but they don’t listen, so they literally have the gas stove on without any ventilation while my room doesn’t have a window, and I really need to inhale those substances at night. The funny part is that even the LPG have a smell artificially added to it but not when people are artificially adding nitrogen oxide to the air you breath.
Im no fan of gas (despite owning a gas range, when I remodel I’m going induction) but you had some huge methodological flaws that you needed to point out: Did you use the range vent? Is your vent in good working order? ALL cooking on a stove should use it. All the time. Where were the sensors? Where was the distribution? I’m not arguing the policy or health issues of NOX group chemicals, I barely understand them as a biochemist. But still. It matters.
I’m convinced people who don’t want to move away from gas stoves just never tried a glass covered induction stove before. it’s SO much better. it’s so much faster to bring cookware to temp, pretty sure it’s hotter on max than most gas stoves people have in their houses. and the cleanup! god, the cleanup.
This is actually something that suprised me perusal you and climate town but are gas stoves that common in the us, for as long as i lived i’ve never had anything but resistive cookers and induction stoves, so i was wondering is there statistics on how common the stoves are i’ve barely seen any in my region except in really luxurious homes or restaurants
The problem with induction stoves is that the electromagnets are expensive so the manufacturers skimp on them, making them too small for most skillets and large pots. Those units which use one or more larger burners are exorbitantly expensive. And the pans which are best suited for induction stove use are also pricey. Perhaps this will change in the future but for now this is a technology which is only ready for the wealthy.
I have one those old coil electric stoves you mentioned, and I don’t really want to upgrade to something more modern because I do a lot of canning. Induction/glass top electric stoves are actually really tricky for that–some brands actually say you can’t. If anyone else reading this has that hobby and is thinking of switching from gas to electric, that’s something to keep in mind
I’ve lived in Asia for 10 years and learnt so much about air quality. We vent our apartment with a strong fan for at least 10 minutes twice a day, if you don’t use a fan you probably wont clear the pollutants. Never use gas or wood fires. Look up DIY air filters they often work better than expensive ones. I have 2 and my pm 2.5 is perfect 98% of the time.
Before making decisions about ditching gas, we should also be questioning WHO is funding this research. People may be interested to look into who funded the research regarding childhood asthma relating to gas stoves and why others factors such as pets and cigarette smoke weren’t factored in. I’m not saying making the switch is not beneficial for the environment, but the strong and rapid push away from it is an alarm for me. I’m in the process of a kitchen remodel and there are many things about induction that are just not impressive. I don’t care if they can boil water in less than two minutes. I’m not cooking water everyday. The technology sounds great but the more I have learned about them in my research, the less interest I have in making the switch.
Is there any significant difference in air quality when burning propane (LPG) or natural gas (methane)? I would not go as far as to say that gas stoves are bad for our planet. They do come with a huge advantage of not needing a very large power system to supply like induction stoves do. A four-hub induction stove may require as much as 7 kW and my off-grid solar power system is rated at 5 kW max power. Does it really make sense (environmentally-speaking) to have everything (inverter, batteries, wiring for each homes, transformers) scaled up for an induction stove which uses 7 kW of power for maybe 5% of the time? I mean, sure electric cooking as many advantages. But at the same time it doesn’t win by evey parameter if you exclude NO2. It also increases load on electric grid and in some countries supplied by coal (Poland for example), CO2 emissions for cooking may be very similar to gas ones.
Cooking on electric stoves or induction is the norm here in Switzerland. We have a ceramic stove top and a vent over it. Cooking vents are mandatory. They’re great to prevent the entire house getting smelly and the installed filters (washable in dishwasher) catch any fat particles in the air. So, pretty clean air at home.
I remember when I moved into my new home, I was elated it came with a gas stove. It was exciting seeing the flames. I charred bell peppers directly on it, it was fun. Now I’m realizing most of my family members continue to have allergies and we ensure the vent above is open and our air filters on our cealing are clean. Maybe we’ll look into another stove type down the line, at the moment I need to continue to save funds.
Sometimes my air purifier with a PM 2.5 detector displays a high level of those particles and sends me a notification after I finish cooking; today it claimed there were 212 µg/m3 after cooking my lunch. The range hood vents to the outside so I don’t understand why so many particles remain inside. Too bad I didn’t have the air purifier at my last apartment with an electric stove to have comparison data.
Cooked just now on gas for the first time in years and immediately starting feeling odd and started sneezing. I wouldn’t be surprised if this very thing, that is incredibly widespread, is behind a lot of peoples health issues. My gut however says that the problem isn’t burning the gas. It’s not burning the gas. I doubt the stove burns 100% of the gas, which means some of it just fills the room.
There are several advantages of using an induction stove top over a gas stove top: Faster heating: Induction stove tops heat up faster than gas stove tops because they generate heat directly in the cookware, rather than heating the air around the cookware. More precise temperature control: Induction stove tops allow for more precise temperature control than gas stove tops, making it easier to maintain a steady temperature while cooking. Safety: Induction stove tops are considered safer than gas stove tops because the cookware gets hot, but the stove top remains cool to the touch, reducing the risk of burns. Energy efficiency: Induction stove tops are more energy-efficient than gas stove tops because they only generate heat when a pot or pan is placed on the cooktop, unlike gas stove where the burners produce heat even when not in use. Cleanliness: Induction stove tops are generally easier to clean than gas stove tops because spills and splatters do not burn onto the stove top.
Silly priorities you silly people. Approximately 11.3 million persons (or 3.7% of the 308.7 million U.S. population) live within 150 meters of a major highway. 45 million people in the United States live, work, or attending school within 200 meters of a major road, airport or railroad. The Majority of Americans drive on, or commute in these same areas. Factually: NO2 concentration in these areas are Above 400ppb (higher than this guy measured in his home?). People are in these areas longer than in a home while the evil gas is on for cooking. Moreover, for those proponents of electric cooking, About 61% of ALL electricity generation in the U.S. is from fossil fuels—coal, natural gas, petroleum, and other gases. 32 million Americans live within three miles of a gas fired power plant, where NO2 and other particulate pollution is concentrated. If electric stoves are the answer – then its worse for those Americans that live near fossil fuel fired power plants as more demand = more pollutants. Of course those people that must live near these power plants are poor and overwhelming minority peoples of color – yeah, don’t want to go there do we, oh thee of climate change activism ? Same with Electric cars, where we are simply extending the tail pipe exhaust to the areas where “those people” live and suffer from it. Good thing that much of the needed minerals for electric car batteries are mined in Africa by child labor in sudo-colonized Countries. Now that I may have triggered many reading this, my point is yes, gas stoves cause some issues (the risk revolve around the very young and those with pre-existing respiratory illness) in a home.
You do realize that electric stoves require that power to be generated via burning natural gas. Power generation from natural gas is only 30 to 40% efficient. So to get the same amount of heat from an electric stove would require burning over twice as much natural gas as burning that natural gas with your stove.
In Brazil gas stoves are very common, in fact I’ve never seen a home with an electric stove here. However the stoves are usually fed with liquefied petroleum gas, which is a mixture of propane, butane and some mercaptan to give it smell. Any idea of how it compares with natural gas as a health hazard?
yo Distilled – youre missing the bigger picture brother. The manufacturing & replacement of millions of stoves that already exist will far exceed the pollution that these stoves will produce if left to carry out their lifetime duty.. The fact that you can advocate for replacing millions of gas stoves due to “pollution” without ever talking about the pollution of manufacturing & replacing said stoves – is extremely ignorant & privileged.
Back in the early 70s the price of electricity increased dramatically. Gas at that time was inexpensive so people started switching to gas. Also everything painted in our house was done with lead paint. A previous home I owned could not be sold until the asbestos was removed. That cost $20,000 in 2002.
11 years ago I decided to disconnect the gas service to my house. I decided it was time to cut my ties to the fossil fuel industry. My house has been solar powered for 25 years and I bought an electric card 10 years ago which I recharge exclusively from solar panels in my backyard. There is also a radioactive radon gas intrained in natural gas and all overtime it decomposes into among other things polonium 210 and a white Chafee oxide film coats burner assembly and vestibules inside furnaces and there’s a very real health hazard.
That’s why you run a ventilation fan during use. Problem solved. I cooked on 6 to 12 burner gas stoves for decades and they are always used with ventilation hoods. It’s not that hard to figure out. Utilizing ubiquitous existing technology for a solution instead of wringing hands is a better solution.
I will say as someone who cooked professionally for years, I don’t see a viable alternative for professional settings. Any type of glass top stove is a not starter, as is anything which requires a perfectly flat unwarped pan. Induction could probably cook fast enough and with enough control but again glass and perfect pan requirements.
Vent your stove properly just like your would a gas wall hearter or hot water heater. Its the fault of builders for not exhausting the hood vent over a stove (if there even is one) up into the attic. So many just blow the air around the room because they aren’t even vented out (like my tract home build in the 70s). I have an electric stove so it isn’t an issue other than the cooking odors lingering in the house.
Is there an agenda driving the sudden chatter about gas stoves? I think definitely yes – beyond doubt. But I will say that by virtue of moving into an all electric home, I got an induction range….and wow! It’s pretty amazing. I don’t like the idea of all electric. But if I have to have it, the induction range makes it much more enjoyable to cook.
With all these states getting ready to ban ICE Vehicles and now banning gas stoves, what is going to happen to the power grid? My house has a 100amp service. An induction stovetop will require 50 amps, an electric oven 30, and an electric vehicle charger, 60 amps. Then you get rid of my gas furnace and that’s another 30 amps for a heat pump. Now on a cold Jersey night and the temperature outside is 10 degrees, everyone is trying to keep their house at 65 degrees and the heat pumps are all having a hard time while my electric car is charging. God forbid I want to cook something. Now throw the neighborhood in there and multiply the consumption by 100-200 just for an average suburb neighborhood. The grid is nowhere near ready for this. I grew up with gas, my friends all grew up with gas, my kids grew up with gas and no one I know has any health issues. We have one nephew that has asthma, but his parents smoked non stop around him. I think they are trying to scare us to get rid of Natural Gas to fall into line with the elimination of fossil fuels. Scare the people to force the change that they desire…
Gas-stove will always have it’s use, but most effective on high elevation as I understand it where there is lower amount of oxygene and a lower boiling point, so you also would require a high pressure cooker to reach a tempeture of 100c for water. But for everyday use in the kitchen we do as usual. Electrical. And when there is a powerout, usally it gets fixed within a few hours here. But if push comes to shove, we will cook outdoors with wood or campingstoves using a alcohol/teacandle option. But most likley it is to have hot water for basic hygien and cleaning until power gets restored.
My generation of old farts learned long ago that the Nat Gas, unvented, heaters that were common in the bathrooms of older homes in America were unsafe. We also were smart enough to learn that VENTING them made them safe. Does your wife let you use a vent hood when you cook for her? If she does, then I don’t understand the high concentrations of NO2.
Induction is the best hob I’ve ever used. They are precise, very fast and easy to control. This controversy is being manufactured by the fossil fuel industry who know that gas stoves are an effective way of making sure they get to monopolise heating in homes. That is the part they actually care about because it’s responsible for about 95-97% of domestic gas use.
Very disappointed that you chose not to mention that using an exhaust fan will address the health concern about indoor air quality. I am 100% behind phasing our gas appliances but to fear monger is unacceptable if you seek to help others. Many people cannot afford to replace their appliances and you did not even mention that using your kitchen exhaust fan will remove indoor cooking pollutants. Please address this in another article.
…So you’re basing this article entirely on a faulty premise? As in, a working ventilation system would’ve solved your “duuuh i read the meter, it bad!” problem? Also here’s a tip as an industry insider; your electric stoves are powered by combusted natural gases that supply the electricity as well, and the chain of inefficiencies here are much worse at heating up the planet. And no, the single digit % in renewables market share won’t change this fact in the current short term outlook. Unlike many of the other commenters here, I’m not going to blindly agree on pretty presentations with a false base. Sorry, but please do better.
Are you a eco shill? You didn’t mention that if you use a oven hood with exhaust fan it will elevate your fears. As long as your gas stove doesn’t leak. How do you think having everyone using electric stoves helps the environment? The grid is almost maintained by coal 65 to 70 percent. The grid is weak now. California has rolling black outs. Texas has issues. The cost to have a 240 line added to your kitchen is expensive. The they don’t last as long as a gas stove either. They will be repaired or replaced at 2 times the amount of gas. Added to garbage dumps. A good electric stove is almost 3 times as much as gas. . I think you need to weigh the whole issue. People need to look at the big picture. What about gas heat in homes? Is that a problem too? Think about if that’s next on the eco push by these brainwashed people. It will absolutely crush the people who can least afford to change. All this push for change will absolutely crush people most vulnerable financially.
My parents bought a huge and expensive gas stove to replace their old one (which was also huge). 6 burners on both but the new one is by far more powerful which I call “the corvette”. They have no ventilation at all and if my mom is cooking, it is not uncommon for her to have 3-4 burners going at once. As she gets older, I notice her respiratory health getting worse and worse. She definitely has asthma now but also a cough and constantly clears her throat when talking. I know that stove is pretty much to blame but they spent $8000 on this stove and my mom is convinced gas is best for cooking (she is a very serious chef). I feel like I can’t say anything about it. I’m hoping she will come to the conclusion that gas is causing her health to suffer. I just wish she hadn’t spend so much money on something that is killing her slowly. It makes me mad and sad because they couldn’t exactly afford it anyway. Ugh. I should also mention I had asthma as a teen and when I left home it kinda stopped because everywhere I lived after leaving home had electric stoves… Now it all makes sense…
Let’s just think for a second here. If you have a natural gas furnace, water heater, fireplace, etc it’s all very important that it is vented to outside- but shockingly when you burn natural gas in your house while not using the vent hood- it’s bad for the air quality. Using the vent hood would fix all these problems
So, if the pollution from leaking cooking stoves is equal to 600K cars, then why does the headline clearly state it is equal to 500K cars??? In either case, there are over 100M cars in the USA, so this is less than 1% of the damage that cars are doing. Really just a drop in the bucket. Don’t get me wrong, I have recently started planning on how to go carbon neutral and the gas stove is on the list of things to change, but it is near the bottom
There are other toxic hazards from burning gas stoves. Methane emission is the worst by far due to its impact on climate. NO2 is very important. But so too are carbon monoxide, radioactive polonium, and fine particulate. It has been known for half a century that having and using a natural gas range in homes shortens life expectancy by about 6-7 years. Sure, the even heat from gas stoves makes cooking different and in some cases arguably better. With the new induction surfaces that possible advantage is gone. There is another hazard to consider – instant death or maiming. Having natural gas in a home is a large risk for disaster hazard from explosions. Anything that disrupts the gas supply or admits oxygen into the line can result in an explosion that levels the house, often with no warning. Something as simple as a backhoe working in the street that hits the gas line to the home can result in the near complete demolition of the home or business. It is long past time to end the mining, distribution and use of natural gas.
So glad I cook with electric range. And I will start telling whomever listens about using electric, at least to consider it. That´s all we need, is to make ourselves sicker. Of course, there are exceptions to this, if you cannot change your gas stove make sure to vent well. Gas companies must be elated with these new developments.
Such a simple solution if an expert doesn’t consider that coal will probably produce the electric needed for any kind of electric stove, that for the people cooking on an induction stove the electrically induced power pushing through their bodies is like living directly under electric high tension lines, and that ALL the gas stoves in the world do not produce the same amount of pollution as just the cruise ships operating in one day. And that’s just the cruise ships. There are a hundred times more ships using the same crappy, high polluting oil. And how about those big flame burning off the gases around refineries. Let’s not add that into the equation. That would be expensive to capture that and dispose of it.
when l was a kid my mother and father always smoked around me, my mum drank all the time even when pregnant and we had a gas stove, gas fridge,gas heating and gas hot water, it was coal gas,l walked to school in the city were there were no catalytic converters. i started work in a printing factory with lead type, afterward l went on a printing machine using mek, kerosene and britolite, with no gloves or breathing apparatus, l am now 75 if only i was bought up in a cleaner enviroment l might make it to 150
This is all what was considered common sense at one time. Natural gas is an excellent source of energy for many purposes. At best, you are a unknowing anecdote. Using a tool improperly is not the fault of the tool. It only takes a few minutes of searching for anyone to understand the basics of air flow and volume. You can buy the biggest CFM hood out there but if you don’t give it enough air to take in it’s not going to do it’s job. Just firing up some maybe poorly vented, poorly fed gas stove and then blaming gas totally misses the mark.
Dude, there is no way on this green earth that we can replace all of the cooking solutions with just electricity, given the electrical grid has limitations and peoples houses have choices when they’re being built, there is no way that we will all be switching to electricity to be cooking at 5 PM in the evening when everybody decides to fire up that electrical outlet, high usage Air fryer /induction cooker, resistive cooker that the electrical grid is going to say oh yeah it’s a nice day here you go everybody happy with the brown out or worse, stop one basket!! Approach
Ok 1. 30% of food is away from home, and being in the hospitality industry for 15 years I can say that almost (90+%) everything is cooked on gas. 2. If you get your electricity from gas production and use electricity to cook at home plant is getting in even worse position. 3. Anyone with average (or above) IQ can conclude that burning anything in closed space is a bad idea. 4. The whole point is why does government have to take decisions for you? The debate is not even about is it good or bad. Everything is about trade offs.
Did you also measure indoor CO2 and SO2? Indoor CO2 also has health effects, and is produced in great quantity from a gas stove. SO2 is the result of combusting the mercaptan odorant, and it too is an irritant. But somehow these two combustion products were not mentioned as health-related pollutants….
Why can’t they just start making stoves that produce less NO2? That would solve the problem. Anyone want to guess what this would cost the Average American to change over from gas to electric stoves? If a home or apartment was designed to have gas stoves, few would also have a 220V outlet behind where a stove would go. How many people have a main service that would allow an additional 220V take off. If you didn’t, the whole box would have to be replaced with a new one. This would cost from $1,000 to $2,000 for a majority of homes and apartments in the Country.
The only reason this was a story at all is because of the way that the government tried to push the measure in a sneaky way. The people have lost a lot of trust in the government over the past few years. I feel like this article leaves more questions than it gives answers. I’m not sure that the solution is to ban stoves. I think it would be better to promote the engineering of better gas stoves, furnaces, and hot water heaters. It should be possible to make stoves that more completely burn the gas and contain the methane. You don’t say anything about nitrous dioxide being bad for the environment only that it’s bad for humans so it should be possible to vent that outside. Did anybody look at propane and how that compares?
So why can’t we just put the data out and allow people to make their own decision. My body, my choice. If I want to breath dirty air and cook on a gas stove, that should be my choice. I am adult after all. I personally don’t cook on gas, but I have a real problem forcing others not too. Also, much of the gas laws, ban all gas from homes, not just gas stoves. Natural gas used for heating, cloths drying, and fireplaces don’t have this same detrimental effect on indoor air quality as those are vented and better controlled so less methane emissions.
You’re right, but in what world is asthma worse than cancer? You need to measure the class 1/a carcinogens… prioritize the carcinogens and the neurotoxins over the asthma inducers. This is very irresponsible to skip from NO2 to global warming while completely failing to mention the carcinogens such as: ethylene oxide, benzene, ethanol, (gas fumes), formaldehyde, and others.
I’m going to stick with my propane because I have no choice. In fact before you people take away my ability to buy another stove I’m going to buy a spare. I have no electricity and won’t anytime soon. At least not enough to run 240v electric stove. Bare bones here a few lights at night, Starlink and charge phones/tablets.
So, turn on the vent above the stove and open a window. Why are you burning gas inside a sealed house? And what you missed on talking about is that those cities and states who are banning gas stoves, are also facing black outs and low power use days because their power grid is garbage. Yet they are mandating things that use electricity. LOL.
Parts per billion? 🤨 Either, you guys have some of the most sophisticated measuring equipment in the known universe. Or, somebody is pulling a technology heist on you. LOL And I’m going to go with the second one. Because you have no idea what a technology heist actually is. And obviously you have no idea how much a billion, actually is. But it’s a fun word to toss around… Because it starts with a B…. 😂😂😂😂
WHY out of the blue after a century of gas stoves used in the home and now they don’t even have pilot lights! Does this silliness come about? This is all about not using fossil fuels. Please tell me how much solar and wind electricity will be needed and just how efficient are the solar farms. On there best day they can’t make more than 25% of their max.
Welcome to YouTube. I wish your website every success. In my country we are having severe electricity woes (lots of loadshedding) so a lot of people are installing gas stoves ☹️ One step forward, ten steps back. Hopefully once we get our energy genetation situation sorted everyone will switch back But that will only be in a few year’s time ☹️ Wish us luck!
Why not educate people to OPEN YOUR WINDOWS? We build homes so airtight now we are creating our own indoor pollution. Vent it out, either through open windows or power vents. It literally costs nothing to open the windows to exchange the indoor air. Many of the recent homes I helped build were required to have very expensive air exchange units installed, to avoid indoor air quality issues, and to keep every single tiny bit of conditioned air from being lost to the outside. A giant waste of money and time, but the rules must be followed or you cannot get your occupancy permit. They won’t allow people to just open their windows a couple times a day. So much left out of this article makes it look like there is only one issue. No mention of natural gas water heaters and furnaces, which are vented directly outside, and their possible impact on anthropomorphic climate change. Why just cook stoves? Why leave the others out of the picture? Could there be a motive? Hmmm…
The WHO set the annual NO2 exposure guideline from 21ppb to 5ppb. That’s parts per billion. The EPA says the annual average exposure to NO2 below 53ppb is safe. That’s ANNUAL AVERAGE. So let me get this straight. If you stand at your gas range with the fire on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 365 days, your average exposure is somewhere south of 27ppb (I see you conveniently cut that number off your graphic). So all you have to do is NOT be in your kitchen with the stove on 24 hours a day and you are fine? All this hype is because the WHO, whose track record is less than stellar these days, pulled some number out of their collective arses? I’ll tell you what is dangerous to your health. Show up at my house and tell me I have to surrender my stove.
Reading through the comments, it amazes me how easy it is to charm people with arguments like dozens of studies, no references giving, according to expert who is funded by? I wonder… come on, people, one article, and you are convinced the presenter is telling the whole story? Propaganda induced psychosis is so easy here in the western world.
But we shouldn’t get rid of our entire stoves right? In this day and age where we need to be sustainable with everything, can our gas stoves be converted to electric ones? Converted lol I’m so funny. Lord Jesus help us may we all convert to your loving kindness and joy and justice amidst a backdrop of a past that was founded not in injustices but in you Jesus, in your love for us every day. Amen. PGE is rich rich. They could do it.
I’m not really that fussed either way I’m in the UK but I take issue with your “the experts say xyz” and things like your “methane is 80/20 worse for climate” without taking into account that it is much better longer term. Do your research if you’re going to publish something or you’re just going to sound like another npc. There was an opportunity for real useful data here. Also we had a modern high end easy to clean flat glass electric hob and it was terrible; took ages to heat up and wouldn’t boil water without at least a lid on the pan; certainly no rolling boil even then. So it’s not just the old coil type. I even called the manufacturer out under warranty because it wouldn’t boil water and they measured 99c; then told us it was working fine and within spec. I ripped it out and ran gas to it with zero issues since so I was interested in your data, but not the political programming. Further, I don’t know anybody who doesn’t run an extractor above when coming in the hob so the internal pollution is surely a decoy? You’re all setup for it can we have comparison data?
I find it hilarious that every single study and headline he cited claims that natural gas is harmful… “in the United States.” Only in the United States though, and they always make sure to mention that. Because no one is allowed to criticize natural gas use in the EU (especially Germany). So every climate scientist on Earth will tell you that natural gas is harmful when burned in the US, but completely wonderful when burned in Germany.
I thought I wanted an induction stove for my next stove, but after being to a few people’s houses who have them I don’t think I can handle the noise! Especially on it’s highest setting, it gives off a high-pitched whine that makes me batty. No one else can hear it! I know I can hear higher pitches than most people my age (I’m a musician and had my hearing tested a few years ago – also, we hear less of the high end sounds as we age), so it’s not a problem for most people, but if you’re young (ergo you’ll hear higher noises naturally) or tend to always be the one who cam hear a noise when others can’t, test it out first before buying! You might want to stick with older stove tech for the time being!!