00:04Air pollution is the biggest issues of our time.
00:12Ships carrying most of the world's trade,
00:14and the fuels they burn release pollutants that can travel far inland.
00:18That's a major source of air pollution.
00:21In this episode of Earth Now, I'm in Turkey,
00:23where shipbuilders are developing cleaner ways to build and power vessels.
00:27Then, we travelled to landlocked Uzbekistan,
00:30where the government is fitting filters and real-time monitors to factories
00:34and backing a national plan to clean up the air.
00:37This tug, built in Turkey, runs on batteries alone.
00:40The country's shipbuilders say it was the world's first zero-emission tug,
00:44and that they now run the largest fleet of electric tugs anywhere.
00:47In fact, we are always discussing about decarbonisation,
00:51but sometimes we are missing the air pollution site.
00:54Our intention is we are living in a community in Tuzla region, in shipyard region,
00:59so we don't want to emit carbon dioxide,
01:03and also we don't want to, in fact, we don't want particulate matter.
01:07So we found the solution in Turkey in order to make our air clean.
01:13It's very important because the vast majority of the pores are inside the cities,
01:18so these are also very important for the community health.
01:22Tugs, ferries, and pilot boats work close to shore in almost every country.
01:26Turkey's shipbuilders say they are too often overlooked.
01:29In fact, all these ships are global ships because all over the world,
01:34every country has some kind of ships.
01:37Tug boats, pilot boats, small vessels, ferries.
01:40In fact, the community really focused on ocean-going bigger ships,
01:44but there is a missing part.
01:46But before we started, it's not a proven technology,
01:49but now we can say that, yes, we can electrify tug boats
01:53and also some ferries and some other small boats
01:57to avoid from the carbon emissions,
02:00avoid from air pollution.
02:02The technology is proven, she says.
02:05Paying for it is harder.
02:06The private sector has some abilities, but unfortunately,
02:11there should be a finance mechanism in order to support this transition
02:15from conventional vessels to alternative fuels, battery vehicles
02:19and other wind-assisted propulsion systems.
02:22Changing industry also means changing how the next generation is trained.
02:26At Turkey's Specialist Maritime University,
02:29environmental courses are now part of the teaching.
02:31So, we have Black Sea, Marmara Sea, Asian Sea and Mediterranean Sea.
02:38So, the maritime industry is important for Turkey.
02:41The maritime industry is huge globally.
02:45So, what we teach to our students is not important just for them,
02:51but also the whole world.
02:52Turkey is helping to find the solution of air pollution in maritime industry.
02:57We are nurturing the future, so we see AI as a powerful tool
03:03to solve these environmental problems.
03:06And we teach our students in that way.
03:10Cleaner ships are one part of the answer.
03:12Knowing what is in the air is another.
03:15Professor at Samson University says it starts with health.
03:18It matters because this air pollution is a health method for people,
03:24especially for respiratory problems.
03:26And, of course, some asthma and some other cardiac problems
03:30can happen with this air pollution.
03:32This air pollution is a global issue, not a local issue,
03:35because wind blows and when the pollutants take from somewhere,
03:38it takes even from 100 and 100 kilometers,
03:40sometimes thousands it takes.
03:42So, it's a global phenomenon, not a local.
03:45Back in the shipyards, the industry says its technology is ready for others to use.
03:49So, we are always open any kind of cooperation to make the world more cleaner and safer.
03:57That's all from Turkey.
03:59Electric tugs are one way to cut emissions at sea,
04:02but for millions of people, the air they breathe is shaped by what happens closer to home.
04:06We now head to Uzbekistan, where their focus moves from the sea to the factory floor,
04:12and the government is pushing industry to clean up what it releases.
04:15Air pollution is a challenge in several parts of Uzbekistan.
04:20Official assessments record periods of pollution above established standards in Tashkent,
04:25Navoyi, Prigana, Cherchuk and Termes.
04:28Industry heating and traffic all contribute, alongside dust and weather conditions.
04:33A World Bank assessment published in 2024 found PM2.5 levels in Tashkent
04:39well above the World Health Organization guideline.
04:42In late 2025, Uzbekistan stepped up its response.
04:48As sources increased inspections of factories, heating facilities, construction sites and greenhouses around Tashkent.
04:55But not all of the pollution comes from sources as sources can directly control.
05:17Other sources can be tackled closer to where emissions are produced.
05:21At this automotive engine plant in Tashkent, pollution control begins before emissions leaves the factory.
05:27We have installed air treatment plant, like scrubber, wet scrubber, filters, bag filters, in order to reduce emissions, which goes
05:42to the air.
05:43This year we installed an automotive air monitoring station for dust monitoring.
05:49There are two different jobs happening here.
05:52A equipment like this is designed to remove pollutants from the air produced by the factory,
05:57the monitoring system that measures what remains before the emissions reach the atmosphere.
06:01In March, the response was expanded into the nationwide Clean Air Project for 2026 to 2030.
06:09The program targets a 10.5% cut in overall emissions by 2030 and a 10% reduction from transport.
06:17But emissions alone do not determine pollution levels.
06:20The atmosphere is also expanding the network used to track pollution from industrial sources.
07:17Die Zentrum monitoriert die Daten rund um die Klocken.
07:20and can dispatch inspectors if limits are exceeded.
07:23One monitoring station can tell us what is happening here.
07:27A network of them can begin to show how air pollution moves across an entire city,
07:31where it rises, when it falls, and where people may be most exposed.
07:37From the shipyards of Turkey to the factories of Uzbekistan,
07:41the push for cleaner air is gathering pace.
07:43The real measure of success will be in the air people breathe in the years ahead.
07:48That's all for this episode of Earth Now. See you next time.
