Dr Hector PereraƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  London

Sri Lanka is blessed with non stop sun shine and there is no requirement of ENERGY for the purposes of warming houses but some countries like France and England get enough sunshine only during the summer time. In Sri Lanka they use gas mainly for cooking only where as other countries use gas for cooking and heating. There was a time in Sri Lanka with no gas to cook that is because it was not in use, they mainly used firewood for cooking and in some places still they use firewood for cooking. Once we had kerosene cookers and the flame we got was no better than the present gas cookers.

We use gas and electricity for various purposes including for heating and cooking. We understand the consumer goods including energy prices always go up and up, almost every year and this is an inevitable matter. The energy price increase has become one of the major problems to everyone; very often there is no direct total solution but it is possible to have some kind of solution when we use the gas sensibly that means efficiently.

Why they waste energy

I like the subject history, one of the main revolutions was the French revolution. The King Louis XVI of France and his wife Marie Antoinette never understood the hard lives of the common people in their kingdom. One of the major causes of French revolution was the peasantƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s complain that they had no bread to eat. The King and Queen at that time told the peasants, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- If you havenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t got bread to eat why not eat cakes?ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ Similarly if gas and electricity are the problems so why not use alternative energy supply instead of gas and electricity? Yes one can say that but that is not the answer they needed, they need to reduce the cost of energy. Certainly no firewood can be used in these countries for cooking unlike in good olden days of Sri Lanka.

I have researched into the methods of saving energy that is vastly wasted in simple processes such as in cooking. That is because they waste due to negligence and carelessness. Cooking gas is methane, a natural resource that is running out very fast. I am aware of the price increases of gas and I was thinking to show how this wastage can be minimised.

Cannot cook the most basic thing

When I visited Sri Lanka recently, I had the opportunity to have an interview with one of the leading TV stations about this subject of energy. Saving cooking. I asked the question, who could give me a method to cook rice perfectly using a gas cooker or an electric cooker. The method should give nicely cooked rice further it should be energy saving method as well. I asked quite a few ladies and gentleman how they would cook rice. Some said, “We use rice cooker, there is no method, just cook and sometimes it cooks fine but cannot guarantee not to burn, under cook or over cook”. They didn’t know exactly what is energy saving or time saving are about. Some said “We have servants and they cook and we do not worry until the food comes to the table”. The servants cook and they do not know any scientific basis of cooking, they just cook with gas on full blast or fire wood in traditional kitchens. Most of these so called servants have no education at all that is why they end up as servants in houses and in hotels for low pay. Although they had no paper qualifications they got the perfect techniques how to cook rice and other things by sheer years of experience in these poorly ventilated firewood kitchens. I feel absolutely sad for these servants because they are totally dedicated in cooking in kitchens.

Feel homely

I like the smell of burning fire wood that really gives a homely feeling. This has lots of disadvantages, smoke, waste of energy, pollution of the environment, pollution of the things in the house due to a cocktail of volatile gases escaped during cooking and depositing on things such as on your clothes, TV, music centre, telephone, microware, kitchen cupboards, doors, windows and the clothes in your bedrooms. Say for example when the servants cook or fry prawns, dry fish or even cook chicken curry, fish curry, in firewood kitchens or use gas for cooking then these tiny volatile invisible molecules in these food ingredients ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-piggy backƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ with molecules of steam. Once the steam evaporates it leaves these oily sticky cocktail of molecules. If you do not believe me, just run your finger on the wall near the cooker. Then you will see it is sticky, then do the same on the cooker hood, kitchen cupboards or any other materials in or around the kitchen. Some have smooth surface that is not with oily deposits but most of them have this sticky surface. I am sure you have paid good hard earned money to buy these things but now covered with tiny invisible oily molecules and tarnished the lustre. How did happen, this is by simply by the process of cooking.

Sometimes you have the chance to cook in your fully fitted valuable kitchen with cupboards, cooker hood, 4 or 6 burner cookers, with all the new accessories in the kitchen. When you have a dinner party, you show off the kitchen and happily cook, that is fine. The problem is with or without your knowledge you are gradually ruining the kitchen and the other household things. Not only that you have a shower of cocktail of volatile cooking ingredients from the curries you make. Scientifically speaking it deposits on your hair, face, clothes, jewellery and the exposed parts of your body has a microscopically thin film of volatile sticky oily layer. It may be small but enough to have a very distinct aroma smell. When you walk about the others raise their eye brows because of this distinct smell or the odour. May be the visitors are polite and do not want to tell in your face but you have to admit there is this smell on you. This is from the curries you cooked that is deposited on you. Well what you do is to spray on you to cover them and have a broad smile on your face. The facts are facts, the smell is there, they ruin your valuable dress, blouse, make up and the jewellery. This does not happen in one instant, it takes time but it is noticeable enough to an outsider who comes to your home for the dinner party.

So there is a problem, what shall we do? Why not try a take away, so no cooking. Some people just pick up the phone and order whatever they want over the phone then in a matter of few minutes they are delivered to your doorstep. Then you get take away that is fat filled, salt filled and who knows what’s in them. They are for business, who knows they take all hygienic precautions when they store meat, fish and other things. Would they wash them properly, don’t forget they have to rush for mass demand. Well I am not totally against these take always, I also enjoy time to time but not on regular basis for the reasons I have already mentioned.

So what is the solution? Let me show you how to cook on the basis of science, yes application of basic science. When I have the chance to demonstrate this cooking, you would witness how to stop unnecessary wastage of energy, save time and also save money that is spent on gas, then I will show how to deal with this cocktail of volatile gases that is supposed to be ruining these things. I will talk about these invisible molecules with simple terms so that even any GCSE student can understand. You do not want to have a degree in biochemistry or molecular biology to understand my explanation.

Energy saving experts?

My challenge is still open to any scientist, environmentalist or to an energy saving expert to come forward and prove me wrong, I need them to prove me that my scientific technique does not save energy then I will pay Rs 1,000,000, one million or ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚£5000. My work is based on science and according to science, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. If you wished to waste your gas or burn your hard earned money on gas carelessly then the choice is yours but if you wish to find out how to use gas efficiently in a scientific manner to save gas then you may contact me Email, perera6@hotmail.co.uk