TEHRAN – Some 83 percent of air pollution in Tehran and 70 percent in other big cities of the country are caused by mobile sources, Abdollah Motevalli, deputy director of the Standards and Quality Inspection Company, has said.

There are two main types of air pollution sources, mobile sources including cars, buses, planes, trucks, and trains, and stationary sources such as oil refineries, industrial facilities, and factories.

Some 40 percent of the emission is produced by stationary sources, while 60 percent of the pollution is generated from mobile sources.

Mobile sources of pollution include cars, planes, and trains, while stationary sources include refineries, industrial units, and factories.Compliance with the executive regulations and issuing the vehicle inspection certificate, traffic police dealing with cars without inspection labels and intensifying inspection supervision will definitely reduce the impact of mobile sources on air pollution in cities, Motevalli further highlighted.

He went on to note that in line with the implementation of the clean air law, a total of 669 technical inspection centers for light vehicles, 179 centers for heavy vehicles, and 447 hydrostatic laboratories have been active throughout the country, IRNA reported on Sunday.

All motor vehicles, including light, semi-heavy, and heavy motorcycles used by government, public and non-government sectors; are required to obtain a technical examination certificate, which can be highly effective in reducing air pollution, optimizing fuel consumption and car safety, and consequently the health of citizens.

21,000 Iranians die of air pollution in a year

During the past [Iranian calendar] year (March 2021-March 2022), more than 21,000 people died in 27 cities of the country due to air pollution, Darioush Gol Alizadeh, head of the national center for weather and climate change affiliated with the Department of Environment, said in August.

According to the report of the Ministry of Health, in 27 polluted cities of the country, about 21,000 deaths caused by PM 2.5 have happened in the country, which caused $11 billion in damage, and 6,000 deaths related to air pollution have also been reported in Tehran.

Over the [Iranian calendar] year 1399 (March 2020-March 2021), 40 polluted days were reported in Tehran. Last year, also 30 days were polluted and this year, we breathed polluted air for 85 days since the beginning of the year, he further explained.

Part of the emitters in Tehran is due to the traffic of diesel cars that use regular diesel fuel, Gol Alizadeh said.

Some 34 million liters of gasoline with Euro 4 and 5 standards are distributed daily in metropolitan cities and transportation hubs, which according to the plan should have reached 70 million liters by 2017, while the average daily consumption of gasoline and diesel is 90 million liters, which reaches 105 million liters some days, he lamented.

In winter, the amount of gas consumption in the domestic sector reaches from 550 million cubic meters to 650 million cubic meters, which has increased by 20 percent, and if we have a one-degree decrease in temperature, about 25 million cubic meters can be saved, and it can easily provide a part of the needs of power plants, he said.

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