Using the lid during the pasta boiling phase speeds up the time and saves up to 6% of energy and CO2 emissions, enough to recharge a smartphone 2-3 times.
Which becomes 5 or more if they cook with the right amount of water, i.e. 700 ml instead of the classic litre, which cuts energy and CO2 emissions by 13%.
But the primacy of savings goes to passive cooking: after the first 2 minutes of traditional cooking, the pasta cooks indirectly, with the heat off and with a lid to avoid dispersing heat, a method of saving energy and CO2 emissions and reaches up to 47%.
These are the three rules remembered by the pasta makers of the Italian Food Union, in view of the National Day of Energy Saving and Sustainable Lifestyles on 16 February.
Three rules to halve consumption during the preparation of pasta and if all Italians followed them, savings would increase by at least 350 million kilowatt hours, enough to light up football stadiums for the next 24 seasons of Serie A, Premier League, Spanish La Liga and Bundesliga.
According to research commissioned by Italian pasta makers to Perfect Food Consulting[, following these rules, with an average consumption of 23.5 kg of pasta per capita, every Italian would save up to 44.6 kilowatt hours in a year, 13.2 kilos of CO2 and 69 liters of water.
And if we did all the results we would save between 356 million and 2.6 billion kilowatt hours in a year, 4,100 mü of water, enough to fill 1,640 Olympic swimming pools and up to 776 kilotonnes of CO2e.
In any case, the future bodes well: according to the research 'Italians and the future of pasta' by the AstraRicerche demoscopic institute, pasta is becoming increasingly sustainable.
Its packaging also allows for 100% recovery of packaging materials and we are moving towards new cooking methods: 25% of those interviewed, thinking about the pasta of the future, imagined that it would cook in 3-5 minutes.
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