City of Westminster (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Westminster Council unveils pilot scheme to cut restaurant cooking emissions, aiming to reduce air pollution and improve environmental health in the city.
As reported by City of Westminster News, the third-largest single source of particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions in London, which are thought to be responsible for 59% of all emissions, is commercial cookery.
These emissions come from food preparation techniques like grilling and frying as well as cooking fuels including gas, wood, and charcoal.
PM2.5 are little airborne particles that can penetrate deeply into the heart, brain, and lungs. Serious health issues like heart disease, respiratory disorders, and even cognitive impairment have been connected to prolonged exposure.
In order to solve this, Westminster City Council is testing a new air filtration system in five nearby eateries to determine how well it works to lower PM2.5 emissions and enhance the quality of the air both indoors and outside.
Additionally, the study will yield useful data that will be shared with the businesses regarding the ways in which restaurant emissions contribute to pollution around the city.
Four eateries in Westminster are testing this innovative technology, including Apricity in Mayfair, to enhance the air quality for both employees and patrons.
Eve Seemann, head chef at Apricity restaurant in Mayfair, said:
“It’s important research in terms of health for myself and the staff, as well as anyone visiting Mayfair and central London.
Although our style of cooking may not be as polluting as others, it’s important to see what areas we could improve in. This data will allow us to see when there’s a peak, what caused that peak and what we can do to try and remedy it. I’m glad we are part of finding a solution to reduce air pollution.”
Cllr Geoff Barraclough, Westminster City Council Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Development, said:
“These emissions from commercial cooking present a significant air quality and public health challenge in Westminster. What we learn from this pilot could help us shape future policies and ensure cleaner air for all those who live, work and visit the city.
We want this pilot to raise awareness of air quality issues within the industry, and I hope it encourages other businesses to sign up to participate in the trial.
I’m proud that we’re leading the way testing innovative solutions to make sure our communities can live in a greener, more sustainable Fairer Environment.”
Dr Philip Webb, Chief Executive Officer at Health and Wellbeing 360 Ltd, said that not only will monitoring indoor environmental quality and outdoor air quality provide important data on pollutants and toxins in a real world setting such as kitchens in local restaurants based in community settings, it will give us insights into the health and wellbeing impacts of these types of emissions indoors and outdoors and, importantly, they will be able to assess the effectiveness of interventions such as ventilation, filtration and purification.
It also demonstrates Westminster Council leading the way on innovation in this sector and highlights the role of appropriate technology in identifying risks and mitigation strategies to help protect the health and wellbeing of local communities now and for future generations.
Companies are still able to participate in the program and register for the council’s commercial cooking pilot.
What innovative solutions are being considered to reduce cooking emissions in Westminster?
A variety of creative approaches aimed at lowering particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions from commercial kitchens are being considered as part of Westminster Council’s pilot program to lower cooking emissions in restaurants.
Large air purifiers and high-efficiency filters that minimize indoor and outdoor air pollution from cooking emissions by capturing fine particulate matter.
Acceptance of modern energy cooking services (MECS), such as electric cooking appliances that run on biogas, bioethanol, renewable energy, and other fuels derived from renewable resources and produce fewer pollutants than conventional fossil fuels or biomass stoves.
Electrostatic precipitators are among the technologies that improve kitchen ventilation systems to better capture and neutralize cooking emissions before they are released into the environment.
Switching to greener fuels like LPG, electricity, or biofuels from polluting ones like wood, charcoal, or fossil fuels.