Dr Hector Perera      London

Who gets energy like gas and electricity for free? As far as I know anyone who use these kinds of energy resources have to pay for the service. I am so happy now energy is directly supplied to anyone’s home by the energy companies then how to use is up to the customers. The customers are the people either waste energy or use them efficiently. If the people waste energy they burn money for nothing because they have to pay for whatever they use.  The companies cannot help other than reducing prices but they cannot do much about the prices due to world market prices.

I started with kerosene cookers

When I used kerosene cookers for cooking, I think it was quite efficient. The burner converted the kerosene into a blue flame that is for full oxidised flame. Then one could increase or reduce the flame while cooking then one can increase or decrease the use of kerosene. Some people leave the flame at full power and get on with cooking. Some people used even clay pots for cooking even when they are not quite good conductors of heat. With the appearance of those kerosene cookers, one could get rid of the smoky, dusty firewood stoves. Some people get firewood for free from their garden so some people still used firewood stoves than using kerosene cookers. When I started to cook in Colombo with three of my friends in a boarding house, we used nothing but kerosene cookers. I still can remember a person came in a cart and delivered the kerosene to the boarding house. Those days a gallon of kerosene was either 99 cents or one rupee. Today how much is a loaf of bread? A plain cup of tea was three cents and one with milk it was 5 cents. That cannot be helped due to so many reasons. So I learned my cooking with a kerosene cooker. One might think cooking might even disturbs the studies, that’s not right because three of my friends became medical doctors and left the boarding house.

Spices can be smelly

One can use gas and electricity and cook energy efficiently or can cook by saving energy. I knew my method of energy saving cooking since I started my studies in England. I had one ring electric cooker in my room where I had to do all my work but only later I found the actual kitchen was abandoned by the others who lived there. The reason I wanted to cook outside my room was to avoid any cooking aroma getting deposited on my clothes. As Asians we use spices for cooking curries such as chicken, fish and even some vegetables. I realised that I couldn’t wear my clothes smelling like that to the University but some body sprays helped to cover it for a while. Not that I cooked a lot but something was cooked including some rice like all Asians. Even I knew this energy efficient cooking but didn’t want to take it serious until much later. When I saw this cooking programmes in different British TVs then I thought that my method of cooking was different that is energy saving and smell avoiding cooking. I haven’t got much interest in cooking, my interest was about teaching chemistry after completion of my studies. For a number of years I worked as a chemistry teacher in both state and private schools and colleges.

I think British TV cooking is not quite energy saving

When I repeatedly saw these cooking in different British TV channels then I thought why not show my energy efficient cooking in Sri Lanka TVs. When I went on holidays to beautifully sunny Sri Lanka, I had the chance to appear in ITN TV. First I had a verbal interview at the studio then that person send a team of about seven people to the place we lived during a short holiday. That time our two children were quite small and they didn’t understand what that was all about. Fortunately every time we went on holiday, I demonstrated this my kind of energy saving cooking. Then another TV station had an interview but I have my doubt if anyone quite understood my explanation because that was just a verbal discussion without a cooking demonstration. Who would learn to play football, tennis, swimming or even driving without a practical demonstration, certainly not me?

My method was approved

I managed to get hold of The Sustainable Energy Authority in 2007 but didn’t get an approval until much later because couldn’t get hold of the Director and Director General until May 2014. When they witnessed my energy and smell saving cooking of rice and chicken curry at our residence in Colombo, they happily approved my method of cooking. The Invention Commission happily added my work to their official web site.

Then I managed to get a place in a TV called Sirasa to demonstrate my cooking. I was glad to meet another famous chef called Duminda as well during my cooking demonstration. I didn’t bothered to show the audience how to cut garlic, onions and adding different spices to chicken curry because my aim was to demonstrate how to cook and save energy then avoid any cooking aroma while cooking. The two presenters Juliana and Sameera nicely presented and well explained the work. One must see my demonstration in Google search to believe my words. It can be found under my name in Google search.

Why my work is not given a place in British TV?

One of my questions is if energy efficient cooking can be done my way with gas and electricity why not the TVs in England would not believe me and give me a chance to demonstrate to help the public to save some energy? In the past I even challenged the energy saving experts and even to famous British TV chefs to step forward and disprove my kind of energy and smell saving cooking. I even placed £50,000 yes fifty thousand sterling if they disproved my work. My work is based nothing but on science, I am using well established gas laws that are more than two centuries old. If they are valid up to now and if I am using them, my work cannot be wrong. According to science every action must have an equal and opposite reaction. I am not quite sure why so far no one has come forward either to approve or disprove my method of energy and smell saving cooking. Your comments are welcomed perera6@hotmail.co.uk