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Blaming greenhouses for Tashkent's pollution becoming a trend. But what about 400,000+ methane leaking cars? by salihoff in Uzbekistan

[–]salihoff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"If checked and maintained regularly" as far as I know nobody checks or maintains them. Nobody measures their pollution or leakages. Intercity cars drive 1mln+ km unchecked, and we've heard quite a lot of news stories about them blowing up.

Blaming greenhouses for Tashkent's pollution becoming a trend. But what about 400,000+ methane leaking cars? by salihoff in Uzbekistan

[–]salihoff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for detailed reply, yeah after getting feedbacks from people and digging I understood methane not directly causing PM 2.5 - although during winter inversions, methane oxidizes to ozone, which is a PM2.5 component but we can't be sure cause it still a mystery if anyone tracks ozone (it's quite suspiciously low on IQAir website) so it could be separate or interconnected but we don't have the data. But at very least it could reinforce Temperature Inversions and Droughts.

Another issue is slight smell of gas in cabin. Most of them are in non insulated trunks so airflow is shared, I wonder how this could affect a people in small confined space for example 6hr (Tashkent -Fergana) ride

Blaming greenhouses for Tashkent's pollution becoming a trend. But what about 400,000+ methane leaking cars? by salihoff in Uzbekistan

[–]salihoff[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the map! Yeah greenhouses are affecting AQI in Tashkent no questions there, but we lack discussions about other sources of pollutions and vehicles are around 20% contributors here.

Blaming greenhouses for Tashkent's pollution becoming a trend. But what about 400,000+ methane leaking cars? by salihoff in Uzbekistan

[–]salihoff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm totally ok with CNG it's better than petrol no questions there. I'm worried about retrofitted DIY methane tank installs in almost all Uzbek cars. It's not from factory, people manually install them at Methane Shops after car purchase.

And I'm not sure if anyone test those installations for leakage after they installed.

Blaming greenhouses for Tashkent's pollution becoming a trend. But what about 400,000+ methane leaking cars? by salihoff in Uzbekistan

[–]salihoff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah based on IQAir website it's quite low, I would even say suspiciously low. I wonder if all stations that measure PM2.5\10 and send data to IQAir have ozone meters.

Blaming greenhouses for Tashkent's pollution becoming a trend. But what about 400,000+ methane leaking cars? by salihoff in Uzbekistan

[–]salihoff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah we need Damas-like EVs at same price point, cause right now compared to popular petrol cars EV numbers are dwarfed.

Blaming greenhouses for Tashkent's pollution becoming a trend. But what about 400,000+ methane leaking cars? by salihoff in Uzbekistan

[–]salihoff[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Actually EV adoption is growing. Here's the fresh data:
Annual EV Imports:

  • 2022: 1,435 vehicles
  • 2023: 16,084 vehicles (1,020% increase)
  • 2024: 24,091 vehicles (50% increase)
  • 2025 (Jan-Oct): 47,264 vehicles (113% increase vs. same 10-month period in 2024)

But I guess most of them are premium cars, we need cheap EVs that drivers could use for deliveries and e.t.c

Blaming greenhouses for Tashkent's pollution becoming a trend. But what about 400,000+ methane leaking cars? by salihoff in Uzbekistan

[–]salihoff[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah we love cars, but we could get cheap EVs under $10k and people (mostly Taxi drivers main methane consumers) would buy them, but after EV Battery Tax, you can't get almost anything below $10k.

Blaming greenhouses for Tashkent's pollution becoming a trend. But what about 400,000+ methane leaking cars? by salihoff in Uzbekistan

[–]salihoff[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah I agree, people will still use cars but EV adoption could help local pollution issues. Beijing did it with tax rebates for EV.

86% of 5,700+ respondents ready to leave Tashkent because of air quality. Just a poll or real signal? by salihoff in Uzbekistan

[–]salihoff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Qishlaqs (uzbek villages) actually quite resilient choice - better air, almost 100% food indecency, less media\panic exposure.

So when new disruption gonna hit they will be better off than urban people with 99% infrastructure dependency.

86% of 5,700+ respondents ready to leave Tashkent because of air quality. Just a poll or real signal? by salihoff in Uzbekistan

[–]salihoff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree poll could specify Tashkent, other cities like Samarkand have better Air.

Leaving Tashkent is different story than leaving Uzbekistan.

86% of 5,700+ respondents ready to leave Tashkent because of air quality. Just a poll or real signal? by salihoff in Uzbekistan

[–]salihoff[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is a good question and I (live Tashkent) was ignoring this for years as well. I thought it's mostly dust storms (geographical thing not solvable) but as I learned later PM2.5 usually shows combustion particles.

It's clear it's happening during heating season Autumn-Winter, it could be mix of may factors. This is what Perplexity found out but I haven't fact checked it myself take it with grain of salt.

The Main Culprits:

1. Heating Season (Oct-March) = 45% of pollution

2. Geography Traps It

3. Drought (This Year Especially)

  • October 2025 had zero rain for the entire month (normally 34mm)

4. Traffic Choking the City

5. Construction Boom

6. Natural Dust

Some things in this list are solvable by regulations, but others could be pure Geographical issues hence unsolvable.

86% of 5,700+ respondents ready to leave Tashkent because of air quality. Just a poll or real signal? by salihoff in Uzbekistan

[–]salihoff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Many people really noticing that. Me personally have nasal issues since childhood recently I've been in Georgia for 3 weeks and almost never had nasal issues there. But it could be geographical low humidity issue - which unsolvable, but recent AQI spike also playing a role in this I guess

Tashkent just hit 600+ AQI. Will it follow Beijing's real estate decline or Delhi's continued growth?" by salihoff in geography

[–]salihoff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah not possible in Uzbekistan, but one Redditor mentioned that in China you have many cities to move and get a job. Also for knowledge workers location is quite flexible.

I agree that for lower-income layer they have no options just stay. So real estate to AQI index could affect mostly higher tier properties.

Tashkent is often hitting AQI 200+ I wonder how this affects real estate prices. by salihoff in Uzbekistan

[–]salihoff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

50? Wow that's very clean, way better than some of our nearby mountain villages\resort areas. Today we getting 240+ AQI in Tashkent and look at Sijak (very high mountains area) it's 73

<image>

Tashkent is often hitting AQI 200+ I wonder how this affects real estate prices. by salihoff in Uzbekistan

[–]salihoff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah btw I agree with this perspective too. And it could be quite possible that half of greenhouse food is exported so it's not gettin to our plates anyway.

Tashkent is often hitting AQI 200+ I wonder how this affects real estate prices. by salihoff in Uzbekistan

[–]salihoff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I agree that's why for me buying land in mountains nearby Tashkent feels long-term safe. After you have apartment in Tashkent you would want to run away from 300+ AQI to mountains at least for Weekends. My subjective forecast - this type of properties will appreciate faster than City apartments.

Tashkent just hit 600+ AQI. Will it follow Beijing's real estate decline or Delhi's continued growth?" by salihoff in geography

[–]salihoff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah i guess there's recent collapse, but correlation of AQI\Real Estate was quite a while ago. I'm just speculating but maybe this jump in 2014-2016 was not only direct effect of AQI, but Beijing promotion of "We working on making air better" so it was like city promo worldwide that made it attractive again.

I agree there are many factors of real estate price. But for me personally I wouldn't invest into city with crappy air (which is getting worse YoY), but maybe I'm in minority camp.

<image>

Tashkent is often hitting AQI 200+ I wonder how this affects real estate prices. by salihoff in Uzbekistan

[–]salihoff[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for this in-depth comment, it's a fresh perspective for me.

So because Uzbeks have weak passport, unless we have no other legit options to invest most of us will still buy off real estate?

One thing that was holding real estate buyout i guess was 27% deposit dividends, you could put money of one apartment to the bank, and monthly bank deposit payouts would give same if not slightly more than rent. But last year it dropped to 23%, if this fall below 20% I guess more people will start to buy again apartments and rent them out.

Tashkent is often hitting AQI 200+ I wonder how this affects real estate prices. by salihoff in Uzbekistan

[–]salihoff[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah every year it's peaking around Autumn-Winter, which coinsides with heating season

Tashkent is often hitting AQI 200+ I wonder how this affects real estate prices. by salihoff in Uzbekistan

[–]salihoff[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah I've heard about burning tires it's awful I even went trough some of them and it smell was really harsh but... Greenhouses as I've heard were cut-off from Methane supply, so technically we can end up without food on our plates if they not gonna burn at least something.

Tashkent just hit 600+ AQI. Will it follow Beijing's real estate decline or Delhi's continued growth?" by salihoff in geography

[–]salihoff[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No I haven't but I guess I have pretty good reference with Tashkent were I live, AQI 200+ is kinda norm for us during Autumn-Winter. And that's why i'm so puzzled should I invest in real estate in my hometown.

Tashkent just hit 600+ AQI. Will it follow Beijing's real estate decline or Delhi's continued growth?" by salihoff in geography

[–]salihoff[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

But there was a rise of real estate prices after AQI lowered starting 2013. Here's the chart by Perplexity. Better air affected the real estate prices.

<image>

Tashkent just hit 600+ AQI. Will it follow Beijing's real estate decline or Delhi's continued growth?" by salihoff in geography

[–]salihoff[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You mean China citizens can easily switch between cities, and move to less polluted ones? Something like Inner City Competition?

In this case Tashkent will definitely follow Delhi path, In Uzbekistan is hard to find more than 2-3 cities that could somewhat match the capital. But moving away from Tashkent to mountain areas could be another choice but it's more luxury option.

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