Turkmenistan reduces the discharge into the atmosphere of harmful emissions
December 07, 2018 | 09:09 |1398
Turkmenistan with its one of the world’s largest hydrocarbon reserves is intensively increasing its oil and gas processing capacities. In recent years, many new industrial facilities – the largest in the region – have launched in the country. Such rapid industrialization could supposed to increase the level of harmful emissions into the atmosphere. But not in our case. The point is that the environmental friendly criteria is the main requirements of the production innovation. BP Transnational Oil and Gas Company, one of the world's seven oil and gas “supermajors”, annually publishes data on the state of the global energy industry. Thus, according to BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2018, Turkmenistan, despite the growth in the production and processing of hydrocarbons, reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 5.1 percent in 2017 compared to 2016. Starting from 2007, the level of harmful emissions in Turkmenistan has now decreased by 30 percent. The countries – members of the Paris Agreement agreed to reduce the same amount of CO2 emissions until 2030. Why Turkmenistan was able to manage easily with such, seems, very difficult task even for technologically advanced countries?Sapar MURADOV
The answer is the strict eco-standards and the political will of the country’s head. No project is accepted for consideration at the government level without a clause on the environmental performance of a future facility, whatever industry it belongs to. Even it would require huge investments; the project would not be approved until it receives an acceptable environmental status.
Due to this approach, all large-scale industrial objects that commissioned this year in Turkmenistan were awarded with international environmental certificates.
Polymer production, which is a priori considered to be one of the most harmful, in Turkmenistan was awarded by certificate the Environmental Health Trust (USA) for the environmental cleanliness of the large chemical enterprise. The tree-planting campaign secured the ecological status of Kiyanly Polymer Plant – President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov personally planted the first tree near the territory of the new gas chemical complex where the green zone is formed today.
The country’s first-ever combined cycle gas-steam turbine power plant at the Mary Hydroelectric Power Station opened in September this year, which the Central Asia’s largest power facility of new generation, was recognized as environmentally friendly by the Environmental Health Trust and the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion.Those, who presented certificates in recognition of the new facility’s benefits, noted the country's commitment to the transition to a “green economy”.
The petrochemical complex Garabogazkarbamid, which also opened in September, has been recognized by the Braunschweig University of Technology as big innovative facility, and was awarded by the Certificate on Recognition of Use of Innovative Technologies to clean and process gas and steam emissions at the plant.
The list of industrial projects in Turkmenistan that have received international certificates as environmentally friendly facilities is a quite long. Therefore, let us stop here and remind you one holiday, which was initiated by Turkmenistan as a long-term contribution to the environmental pollution issue.
World Bicycle Day at Turkmenistan’s initiative was recognized by the UN General Assembly as international and brought together millions of people who have interest to sport and to the fate of our planet. The initiative has become the platform for the creation of a new social movement, which calls for transition to more environmentally friendly types of transport and healthy lifestyle.
Nowadays, in Turkmenistan, days without motor transport have become an integral part of ecological culture. Even single actions carried out in the country allow to reduce harmful emissions into the atmosphere by 34 tons on average, which gives the city plants a good “rest” and the opportunity to perform better their function – to produce oxygen.
According to biologists, the noise effect of working engines, which cause the syndrome of constant fatigue and depression, has a negative impact to humans, and even to trees and plants also. Consequently, even one day without transport can be considered as a great gift for a person, a precious “moment” for recuperation.
