Induction cookers are touted as the most green cooking tool since they consume less electricity. I found this on a wiki and thought it gave an interesting perspective. Unless you go with some of the VERY new and efficient ones you probably aren’t much more efficient than a gas cooker:
Induction cookers are getting popular and less expensive than traditional cookers. According to the Department of Energy, the efficiency of energy transfer for an induction cooktop is 90%, versus 71% for a smooth-top non-induction electrical unit, for an approximate 20% savings in energy for the same amount of heat transfer.[1] See Table 1.7 of the DoE reference.
There are cheaper single-induction-zone cooktops available largely from Asian suppliers. This is due to Asia’s more densely populated cities, therefore making this type of induction cooker popular where living space is at a premium.[citation needed] Single-zone induction cookers are available only in few retail outlets in North America, but are widely available through online stores and auction sites; some induction units sell for as low as $60 USD in supermarkets.[citation needed] Twin burner units also made available these days and they are gradually gaining momentum in Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
When the environment is taken into consideration, a more appropriate measure should be from the source to output. It needs to be noted that even though induction cooking is efficient, the overall efficiency from the energy source to the food is comparable to cooking with gas. Currently electricity generation efficiency from a coal or gas fired power plants(responsible for 80% of total electricity) is about 33%, and the energy lost during transmission is usually about 5%, therefore the overall source to food efficiency is 28%. While cooking using a gas burner has about 30% efficiency at the stove and the gas transmission loss is about 6%, leading to the overall efficiency for gas cooking over a range to be about 27.9%.
A new simple product coming on market with heat exchange channels increases the cooking efficiency on a gas range to be 58%. This gets the overall energy efficiency to be 54%