抄録
Recognizing electric energy consumption in households could lead us taking actions for energy reduction. Thus the purpose of the research was set to clarify the amount of electric energy consumption related to food consumed in households. The first phase of the study was to measure the amount of electric energy used while cooking with the use of rice cooker, microwave and electric pot. They are considered to be the main source of electricity while cooking. The annual electricity consumption of electric rice cooker was estimated as 63.0 kWh per household per year. It was calculated from 214 times of use for cooking per year and 6 hours for keeping warm. Although the ownership of electric rice cooker in Japan is as high as 90% (according to Japan Electrical Manufacturers’ Association), it was estimated to contribute only 1.2% of domestic household electricity consumption in 2008 based on the result of the measurement. The electricity consumption by microwave was 58.6 kWh per household per year (the constituent ratio was 1.1%). The annual electricity consumption of the electric pot usage (for boiling water and keeping warm) was 154 kWh per household per year and its constituent ratio was 2.8%. The electricity consumption for keeping water warm for 24 hours after boiling was 0.733 kWh which was 2.6 times of that of boiling water (0.286 kWh). The electricity consumption of the three major household electric cooking devises; electric rice cooker, microwave and electric pot were estimated as 276 kWh per household per year, which was 14.4 TWh per year and accounted for 5.0% of Japanese household electricity consumption. When considering of reducing CO2 emission related to household food consumption, it is necessary to search measures to reduce energy consumption without losing the characteristics of food itself as food is the source of our health. How to reduce energy consumption of household cooking will be discussed in the future when the actual usage of other household devices such as refrigerator and dishwasher, and the electricity consumption of those devices are estimated.
