Is a barbecue energy efficient, and does it result in increased emissions of carbon dioxide?
The short answer is that generally, barbecues are quite an inefficient way of cooking compared with an ‘A’ rated oven/grill, however if you want to go ahead, the best option is charcoal or even solar power. But if you want to be truly green, try to buy British charcoal which hasn’t been imported by the tonne from thousands of miles away. It’s worth checking on the bag before you buy it to see if it has Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) or Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC) labels. Alternatively, there are some new solar grills coming onto the market which work by reflecting sunlight from mirrors onto a hot plate, which then grills the food. However you won’t produce food with the same smoky flavour as a traditional barbecue, and at around £125 for the Swiss-made variety, they don’t come cheap.
