Solar cooking and its prospects in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, people mainly use natural gas, LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas), electricity, kerosene and biomass for cooking purposes. Natural gas, which is mostly composed of methane, LPG and kerosene are all non-renewable energy sources, and will eventually become depleted in the near or distant future depending on the discovery of new reserves. Moreover, since these are fossil fuels, their combustion also leads to greenhouse gas emission. Despite the discovery of several gas reserves over the past few decades, the supply of gas is not sufficient to meet the demands of the ever growing population of Bangladesh. In this situation, solar cooking, which is neither fuel dependent nor an emitter of greenhouse gas, might help improve the present gas crisis scenario of Bangladesh. This paper studies the advantages of using solar cookers and their prospects in Bangladesh.