Biotecture Planet Earth is currently in planning stages for a project in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Traditionally, the large food producing greenhouses in Tashkent are known to use the burning of tires and other fossil fuel garbage products in winter in order to keep the greenhouses warm.
This is causing a heavily polluted city, where PM2.5 concentration is five times the World Health Organization annual PM2.5 guideline value on a daily basis (https://www.iqair.com/air-quality/uzbekistan/toshkent-shahri/tashkent).
The local government has recently put a program of fines and subsidies in place, where farmers are forced to relocate their greenhouses to a more remote location and to use natural gas instead to heat their greenhouses. The problem with that is that many farmers can simply not afford to pay for the government-owned natural gas (https://tashkenttimes.uz/national/18121-officials-crack-down-on-illegal-greenhouse-heating-around-tashkent).
The solution:
The proposed solution is to conduct a demonstration project for the construction of an Earthship style greenhouse, using thermal mass and passive solar systems to keep the temperature of the greenhouses at a stable, warm level for plants to grow and food production to continue happening without the extra cost.
This demonstration project would directly empower local Uzbek communities through hands-on training, establishing a reliable, climate-resilient method for year-round local food production and these heritage-based thermal greenhouse solutions offer a vital, low-cost blueprint that can be adapted across other arid and semi-arid regions facing severe climate and desertification challenges.
Biotecture Planet Earth has partnered with World Aral Region Charity (WARC) and Earthship Biotecture to make this project a reality and is currently looking for urgent funding to make this happen.
Please consider donating and/or contact us to get involved.
