The transportation network is the main source of air pollution in Iranian metropolises, because of the lack of electric vehicles, high fuel consumption of nonstandard vehicles and the widespread use of fossil fuels, according to an energy expert and a professor of Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology.
"We have 8-12 million motorcycles in the country that consume gasoline, and electricity has no share in our transportation network,” Hashem Oraee was also quoted as saying by Donyaye Khodro.
“Another important factor is the gas usage of power plants. According to the latest statistics, the power plants’ share of pollution is about 20% and the share of transportation network pollution is about 60%,” he added.
Oraee, who is also the founder and president of Iran Wind Energy Association, noted that 33% of the country's gas are used in power plants and the volume of gas pollution is lower than that caused by diesel and mazut, which replace gas in the winter.
"We are suffering from the imbalance in gas production and consumption, and the other is the 90% dependence of domestic electricity grid on gas,” he said.
Stressing that currently, the most effective solution to lower air pollution caused by fuel consumption is to move toward electric vehicles, he said EVs do not have a share in Iran’s transportation network and the domestic car manufacturing sector is lagging behind in EV technology.
“A car normally consumes 4 liters of gasoline for 100 kilometers, which in Iran amounts to 8 liters in normal conditions and 10 liters in traffic. This means we’re consuming 2 to 2.5 times more gasoline than other countries to travel the same distance. This issue is related to problems in the automotive industry that sees no reason to enhance vehicle quality due to the government’s imprudent support,” he said.
“This is while automobile manufacturers of the world have to improve their products’ quality to compete in the market. This issue makes them move toward electrification and improve their production technologies.”
Orae noted that as Iranians are still lining up to buy cars with internal combustion engines, domestic automakers do not see the need to upgrade their technologies.
Laws Impede Scrapping of Old Cars
Two laws on scrapping age and scrapping age limit are being used by different organizations with contradictory results.
The two laws were devised to get rid of worn-out cars, but they are not achieving the same result, according to the head of the Management of Used Car Scrapping and Recycling Centers Association.
“The Clean Air Law was very clear about the scrapping age of worn-out cars, which was canceled by the Administrative Court of Justice,” Mahmoud Mashhadi Sharif was also quoted as saying by Khabar Khodro.
“According to the Clean Air Law, any car that has reached the scrapping age should be sent to the junkyard, but the application of scrapping age has turned the criterion related to dilapidation into a technical inspection item,” he explained.
“In other words, if the car has reached the limit of wear and tear, it can still be used by taking it to a technical inspection center, irrespective of the vehicle’s age.”
The official noted that as the technical inspection centers follow different strictures, they make it easier to obtain a technical inspection certificate and avoid scrapping.
He also pointed out that the Law on Organizing Automobile Industry mentions the scrapping age but not the scrapping age limit. The approval of this law took three years before it was officially promulgated on June 11, 2022, but it has not been implemented yet.
Sharif further said scrapping centers use the information provided by the Iranian Law Enforcement Forces’ Road Headquarters to the Fuel Transportation Management Headquarters.
“As a result, the age limit of wear and tear is not a criterion for scrapping, but if the car reaches the age of wear and tear, it can be registered in the Setad Iran system,” he said.
“The Law on Organizing Automobile Industry has not been implemented, but because the age of wear and tear was the criterion for scrapping in the past, scrapping age is only used for registration by the Fuel Transportation Headquarters that does not check the car’s technical status.
The official stressed that both the laws can be used to scrap a worn-out car, such that even if the car has not reached the age of scrapping could be scrapped with the certificate from the technical inspection centers, but the scrapping age law is only applied in big cities.
Commenting on the recent ratification of the parliament mandating the payment of 1.5% of the passenger car price for scrapping and numbering light and heavy domestic cars and motorcycles, and the payment of 5% for imported trucks and tractors, he said, “In order to support domestic production, this figure was set at 1.5%, but the association believes that according to the law and to achieve 500,000 certificates per year, this figure should increase to 3%. Because at 1.5%, only 70,000 to 80,000 certificates will become available, and for imported trucks and tractors, it should increase to 12-15%.”
Sharif said there are about 14 million decrepit cars and motorcycles in Iran.
“Actually, accurate statistics on worn-out motorcycles are not available due to the lack of license plates, or as a large number of them are dumped in parking lots. According to traffic police statistics, there are about 9-10 million derelict motorcycles, 3-3.5 million derelict cars and 250,000 worn-out trucks and diesel vehicles in the country,” he said.
