The goals of this Global Commission are laudable and essential. I wrote extensively for The New York Times about the glaring energy gaps impeding wellbeing for hundreds of millions of families and progress for enormous regions in developing countries (e.g., http://j.mp/energyandknifefights).

But it might be more realistic to acknowledge that electricity won’t come close to filling the energy gap for cooking and space heating — still the largest energy need in most deeply poor households, as IEA and the Sustainable Energy for All initiative have reported. I was a fan of fast-forwarding access to modern clean household fuels like LPG and to electric induction cooking. But the more reporting I did in “last mile” households and the more I saw homes with a mix of electricity, smoky biomass fires and other choices — called “stacking” — the more convinced I became that a simultaneous push on improving all steps in the fuel ladder is needed, as well as this creditable work you’re doing on electrification. (See some relevant scenes in these videos: http://j.mp/cookstovechallenge.)

Your Commissions’s work is vital, but it feels important to stress it’s only one path to improving prospects for the world’s energy-impoverished billion or so in the near term. That’s why I spent some time earlier this year facilitating a meeting and manifesto around Pathways to Clean Cooking. Have a look here: http://pathways2cleancooking.info. #seforall #cleancooking #energypoverty