Iran ranks 7th in the world in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, and targets have been set to reduce the emissions by a significant degree, director for health, safety and environment at the oil ministry said, Fars news agency reported Sunday.
Mohammad Hossein Ardeshiri said “Minimizing fossil fuel pollution is a must, and countries that fail to meet international standards will face heavy fines.”
There are also plans to reduce oil pollution in the Persian Gulf by 70 percent within the next four years.
The ministry has developed a comprehensive plan of action in cooperation with Japanese experts to reduce oil-related pollution in Asaluyeh, Mahshahr and Kharg regions in south Iran.
To this end, the ministry is studying several ways to curb associated petroleum gases (APG) among the major petroleum pollutants; collecting APG for injection into oil and gas wells, converting APG into petroleum products such as natural gas liquids (NGL), and generating electricity via APG.
The third option however, Ardeshiri said, needs a huge investment and highlighted APG injection as more economical, viable.
APG, or associated gas, is a form of natural gas which is found with petroleum deposits. It is often released as a waste product from the petroleum extraction industry. When burnt off as gas flares, it is referred to as ‘flare gas’.
‘Euro 4’ gasoline is also planned to be distributed in 8 cities by the end of the Iranian calendar year (March 2015) to help reduce pollution. However, Ardeshiri underlined higher quality fuel as one of the several ways to curb pollution and called for implementing more effective measures to control polluting industries and power plants.
The official said Iran’s oil infrastructure such as refineries and petrochemical complexes are equipped with industrial filtration systems to help reduce marine oil pollution, although some of them are in need of renovation.
