Coal production volumes in Tajikistan disclosed
By Abdul Kerimkhanov
More than 1.7 million tons of coal have been produced in January-November in Tajikistan, according to the Tajik Ministry of Industry and New Technologies.
The ministry clarified that Tajikistan produces two types of coal - stone and brown.
Moreover, according to official statistics, by the beginning of December, about 1.6 million hard coal was produced in the republic.
It is noted that in Tajikistan, coal mining and production is carried out at 14 deposits.
The Ministry of Industry and New Technologies of Tajikistan added that 20 domestic and foreign companies are involved in the work.
After Tajikistan gained independence, coal production reached 20,000 tons per year.
In recent years, the country produced a record amount of coal - 870,000 tons in 2014, over a million tons in 2015, as many as 1.4 million tons in 2016 and more than 1.7 million in 2017.
Currently, more than 200 enterprises in the republic use coal as fuel.
Tajikistan has over 4.3 billion tons of potential coal resources, of which 320.3 million tons are industrial reserves of high-calorie coal.
The largest coal mining companies are among them PE "Sh. Fon-Yagnob", LLC "Talco-Resource" and others. Most of all coal is purchased by Dushanbe CHP-2, which accounts for more than 50 percent of the total volume.
Until 2020, the Government of Tajikistan plans to increase coal production by more than 80 times - in order to provide not only all domestic needs but also to export coal abroad.
Coal mining in Tajikistan is a relatively cheap process, but its quality is low, which worsens the negative consequences for the environment from burning it.
According to environmental organizations, Tajikistan is already experiencing significant adverse effects of climate change. It is in the interests of the republic not only to insist on more stringent goals of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, but also to do everything possible to combat climate change at the national level.
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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94
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