Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.7
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Gasoline produced in Iran's petrochemical units is low quality and harmful to the environment, the Mehr News agency quoted head of Iran's Environmental Protection Organisation, Masoumeh Ebtekar as saying on February 6.
The department of environment has sent a letter to the oil ministry to prevent supplying such gasoline on to the market, Ebtekar added.
If the former administration had acted based on the law, we would have not seen such high air pollution in big cities, she said.
Iran plans to turn to high quality and standardised gasoline in order to reduce the capital's constantly increasing air pollution.
Managing Director of the National Iranian Oil Refining & Distribution Company, Abbas Kazemi, said on January 6 that Tehran's gas stations will only distribute gasoline conforming to Euro-5 standard in two years.
Iran currently distributes 13 million litres of gasoline conforming to Euro-4 and Euro-5 standards to big cities including Tehran, Karaj, Isfahan and Arak.
Iran currently imports gasoline and octane boosters, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said. The Mehr News Agency puts the figure at 5-7 million litres per day.
The Mehr News Agency reported on December 25 that the Iranian environment department has urged the oil ministry to import high quality and standardised gasoline because air pollution has reached an alarming level in the big cities.
Several meetings have been held between officials of the environment department and the oil ministry in this regard.
Moreover, it has been announced that all the cars should meet Euro-4 standards by the end of the spring next year.
Last year, according to the PSI (Pollutant Standards Index), Iran had 147 days when the air quality was substandard. Two years ago, this number stood at 217 days.
The air over Iran's capital Tehran is amongst the most polluted in the world. Experts say many Iranians suffer serious health problems as a result.
Motor vehicles account for 70 percent of the pollution in the Iranian capital. Low quality gasoline and diesel is partially responsible for the problem.