--- title: Americans’ Gas Stoves Are as Bad for Climate as 500,000 Cars description: Researchers found surprising amounts of heat-trapping methane and nitrous oxides seeping from gas stoves—pollutants that can trigger asthma and other breathing problems. canonical: https://time.com/6142988/gas-stoves-methane-emissions/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-01-27T13:19:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:51:47.075Z article:section: Climate og:title: Americans’ Gas Stoves Are as Bad for Climate as 500,000 Cars og:description: Scientists found surprising amounts of methane and nitrous oxides seeping from gas stoves, which can trigger health issues og:url: https://time.com/6142988/gas-stoves-methane-emissions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt356176a0a4d8ebd8/698a21e922fb857cdae2d122/gas-stove-methane-emissions.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2121 og:image:height: 1193 og:image:alt: Close-Up Of Burning Stove og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Americans’ Gas Stoves Are as Bad for Climate as 500,000 Cars twitter:description: Scientists found surprising amounts of methane and nitrous oxides seeping from gas stoves, which can trigger health issues twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt356176a0a4d8ebd8/698a21e922fb857cdae2d122/gas-stove-methane-emissions.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Americans’ Gas Stoves Are as Bad for Climate as 500,000 Cars > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=5b2f755f-6136-4876-a9ab-395f71cb23b4&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Massimo Bottura Wants You to Stop Wasting Your Food [Watch (HLS stream): Massimo Bottura Wants You to Stop Wasting Your Food](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ckWgQS3B.m3u8) (3:53)  _Published 2022-01-12. The brightest gems in Bottura’s culinary empire are not restaurants at all. They are soup kitchens. Not that Bottura would call them that. He thinks of them as catalysts, venues that not only reaffirm the dignity of the guests, but also draw light and art into neglected neighborhoods, all while focusing attention on the growing global food-waste crisis by turning foods destined for landfill into Michelin Guide–worthy meals._ by [DAVID R. BAKER / BLOOMBERG](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## DAVID R. BAKER / BLOOMBERG Contributor Jan 27, 2022 1:19 PM UTC  Gas burning stoves emit methane and nitrous oxides into homes and the atmosphere. Gas burning stoves emit methane and nitrous oxides into homes and the atmosphere. Getty Images/EyeEm by [DAVID R. BAKER / BLOOMBERG](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## DAVID R. BAKER / BLOOMBERG Contributor Jan 27, 2022 1:19 PM UTC The gas-burning stoves loved by cooks leak so much methane across the U.S.—most when the appliances are not even in use—that they have the same impact on our atmosphere as half a million cars, according to a Stanford University study. Stanford researchers analyzed indoor levels of both heat-trapping methane and nitrous oxides—pollutants that can trigger asthma and other breathing problems—and found surprising amounts of each seeping from stoves. The study, released Thursday, comes as communities nationwide debate whether to ban natural gas use in new buildings as part of the fight against climate change, and as the gas industry mobilizes to block such bans. “Gas stoves warm the planet and release indoor air pollutants that you breathe–you get both,” senior author Rob Jackson, an environmental scientist at Stanford, said in an interview. Eliminating gas service for newly built homes makes sense, he said, “otherwise we’re locking in [greenhouse gas emissions](https://time.com/5824295/climate-change-future-possibilities/) for decades to come.” Methane, the main component of [natural gas](https://time.com/5318980/natural-gas-climate-change-methane/), has more than 80 times the global-warming potential of carbon dioxide for the first 20 years after it’s released into the atmosphere. The study, which measured methane levels in 53 California home kitchens sealed off with plastic sheeting, found that old and new stoves alike leak the gas, with 76% of the emissions happening while the appliances aren’t used. Since more than one-third of U.S. households, or 40 million homes, have gas-burning stoves, the researchers estimate their nationwide methane emissions each year have the same global-warming potential as about 500,000 cars. --- ### More from TIME --- The study also examined levels of nitrous oxides in 32 of the kitchens and found that while stoves are in use, levels of the pollutants can exceed federal exposure guidelines if the kitchens don’t have ventilation hoods or those hoods aren’t switched on. It isn’t clear how much methane is coming from leaky pipes and fittings, incomplete combustion of the gas, design features of the stoves or a combination of those factors. The researchers would like to expand the study to include more homes and stoves, since the pandemic limited testing. Tests involved sealing off part of each kitchen to avoid emissions from gas-burning furnaces or water heaters elsewhere in the house. The researchers worked with real estate agents to find empty homes or rented them on Airbnb. The study included 18 brands of stoves, ranging in age from 3 to 30 years. “The trickier question is how to swap out older stoves,” Jackson said. “I would hope for all the readers, their next stove is [electric](https://time.com/6113719/optimistic-fighting-climate-change/), no matter when they buy it.” ## Transcript [00:03] My grandmother teach me how to grow up not wasting anything, to be respectful for food, [00:12] to act seasonal, buying the right amount of food for three, four days and then [00:21] again shop for the family. [00:25] Like that, you can eat better, you can spend less, and you don't waste anything. [00:32] We are seven billion people on Earth. [00:35] 860 million people, they don't have anything to eat. [00:39] We produce food for 12 billion people, and we waste 33 percent of the food that we produce. [00:48] So the answer is very simple. It's fighting food waste. [02:27] A Refettorio is not a soup kitchen. [02:33] Art has always been the highest point of the human mind. [02:41] Everyone who doesn't have the opportunity to have art in their homes, [02:46] they can come to the Refettorio and feel home, [02:50] and that's the warm hug that we are giving to them. [02:57] Welcome, come here, look, this is a beautiful place, but it's your place, [03:02] and this is the food that we cook for you. [03:06] We are here for you. [03:09] Beauty is not beautiful at all if it doesn't have an ethic approach. [03:16] The way you buy, the way you protect your farmers, your artisans, [03:22] the way you treat your team, the way you create your menu, [03:28] every single action is part of this. [03:32] Food waste is part of this. 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