Greenhouses in Tashkent city and its surroundings will be allowed to operate after switching to a «green» status

At the presentation held on October 13, first of all, the state of greenhouses in Tashkent city and adjacent areas was analyzed. Last year, a special commission inspected the greenhouses and assisted a certain portion of them in switching to environmentally clean energy sources. At the same time, some farms still use coal.

During the autumn-winter months, due to weakened winds and temperature inversion, emissions from greenhouses may accumulate in the capital and its surroundings.

Therefore, it was proposed to introduce a special environmental regime based on «green» technologies for greenhouses in Tashkent city and five adjacent districts.

The use of natural gas, electricity, geothermal and solar energy for heating, as well as secondary heat from thermal power plants, will be permitted. Burning tires, plastic, bitumen, fuel oil, used oil and waste will not be allowed.

Greenhouses operating on solid fuel will be offered to switch to these sources by December 1 of this year. Permission to use solid fuel may be granted only to greenhouses that meet strict technical requirements, such as storing fuel indoors, having automated boilers and efficient dust-gas cleaning equipment installed, having conditions for the safe collection of ash and slag, having a backup generator, and having a chimney that meets the minimum height standard.

From October 15 of this year until March 15 of next year, continuous environmental monitoring will be conducted at the greenhouses. It will monitor the operation of dust-gas cleaning equipment, the amount of emissions released into the air, and compliance with requirements for fuel types. Data from measuring instruments and video surveillance equipment will be transmitted in real time to the Ecology Committee's information system. Drones will be used in monitoring, and public oversight representatives will also participate.

If it is found that dust-gas cleaning equipment has not been installed, emissions exceed the standard, or prohibited fuel is being used, enforcement measures will be applied in accordance with the established procedure. If necessary, greenhouse operations will be suspended.

Financial support measures have been developed to help greenhouse farms adapt to the new requirements. It was proposed to allocate a subsidy of up to 50 million soums per hectare for installing environmentally friendly and energy-saving equipment, and preferential loans of up to 3 billion soums for a period of seven years.