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Mission
To protect the health and well being of the community by achieving and maintaining satisfactory air quality through intervention in the planning process and by enforcing the controls in the Air Pollution Control and Ozone Layer Protection Ordinances. |
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Air quality is improving at street level
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The rapid decline in Hong Kong's air quality was the top environmental story in the late 1990s. But over the past few years, the situation has started to turn around. Air quality is now the top environmental success story. Pollution from motor vehicles has been reduced significantly, thanks to an intensive effort to control emissions. Measurable improvements in air quality have been recorded, especially at street level. The public has been able to see that it is possible to make the environment healthier if the government and the community are united in their goals.
Yet, looking across Victoria Harbour, it might be difficult to imagine that much has changed. A blanket of smog still hangs in the air on many days. Indeed, it hangs over the whole Pearl River Delta region. Pollution from motor vehicles, power plants and industries is combining to create the brown clouds of smog. Everyone, including Hong Kong, is a contributor, which means that everyone must be involved in the solution. In 2002, the Hong Kong and Guangdong governments took a significant step towards addressing regional air pollution. They completed a joint study on managing air quality and accepted its targets and recommendations. The goal is to have significantly better air quality across the region by 2010.
Poor air quality is a health issue. The most immediate concern for Hong Kong in this respect is motor vehicle emissions. Most of the road kilometres travelled are by diesel vehicles, which emit respirable suspended particulates (RSPs), a pollutant linked to higher death and disease rates. RSP levels started rising to worrying levels in the 1990s. In 1999 the Chief Executive committed the government to a $1.4 billion package to reverse the trend - and it is working.
More than 90 per cent of the 18 000 taxis have switched from diesel to cleaner liquefied petroleum gas since a government grant for the switch was made available in 2000. Six thousand public and private light buses are expected to do the same under a similar programme introduced in August 2002. They have the option of switching to either LPG or electric vehicles.
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Petrol Station Fumes
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| Vapours from petrol filling stations are being controlled |
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Fumes from petrol stations contain a known human carcinogen, benzene. They also contain volatile organic compounds which contribute to smog and worsen the health effects of other air pollutants. The fumes, or vapour, are released when petrol is being unloaded into underground storage tanks and when vehicles are being re-fuelled. To control the problem, the EPD is implementing a two-stage plan.
The first stage involves controlling organic vapours when petrol is being unloaded from tankers into the storage tanks in the petrol filling stations. A regulation was introduced in April 1999 requiring petrol filling stations to install a vapour recovery system for this purpose. The release of organic vapours into the atmosphere has been greatly reduced since then. The next stage is to tackle the problem when vehicles are re-fuelled. A regulation requiring vapour recovery equipment that addresses this problem is being prepared and should be introduced in early 2004. |
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More than 90 per cent of taxis have switched to LPG
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Pollution from the remaining diesels on the road is also being controlled. New diesel vehicles have to meet the latest European emission standards, which are the strictest in the world. Vehicles imported before standards started being tightened in 1995 have to be fitted with particulate removal devices, subsidised by a government grant. About 80 per cent of the old light diesel vehicles (about 24 000 in number) have been fitted with such devices when the programme ended in October 2001, and heavier diesels started being fitted at the end of 2002. Alongside these measures, ultra-low sulphur diesel has become the only diesel fuel available in Hong Kong - the only city in Asia to mandate the use of this cleaner diesel. Vehicles that still exceed accepted smoke standards can be hauled in for testing and fined.
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Public light buses are being switched to cleaner LPG or electric vehicles
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Together, these measures have improved air quality significantly, especially at street level. Roadside readings of RSPs have fallen by 19 per cent since 1999. Nitrogen oxides, which irritate health and contribute to smog, have dropped by 16 per cent. The number of smoky vehicles has also been reduced by 70 per cent. Moreover, further improvements are expected as the impacts of the motor vehicle emissions programme are felt over the next few years.
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Vehicle Emission Standards
Hong Kong has adopted the most stringent vehicle emission standards possible, taking into account that vehicles are imported here from Japan, Europe and the United States. European Union standards were adopted in 1995, when the Euro I standard was introduced for all newly-registered vehicles. Since then, a barrage of advanced vehicle emission control technologies has been introduced, without any apparent extra costs to consumers.
The latest standard is Euro III, which was introduced in Hong Kong in 2001. Emissions from these vehicles contain 90 per cent fewer particulates and 40 per cent fewer nitrogen oxides than the pre-1995 model - contributing to reductions in these pollutants at street level. The combination of Euro III standards and the use of ultra-low sulphur diesel means Hong Kong has the tightest fuel and emission standards among major Asian cities, including those in Japan. The intention is to adopt Euro IV standards when they are available, hopefully in 2006. |
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The EPD monitors both ambient and roadside air quality
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The fitting of particulate removal devices on old heavy diesel vehicles, for example, will start having an impact in 2003. As with light diesel vehicles, the government is offering a grant to vehicle owners to fit the devices. The heavy diesels include 30 000 vehicles driven mainly in Hong Kong and 10 000 vehicles that travel across the border. Devices are still being tried for the remaining about 4 000 vehicles required to undertake long idling duties. Legislation will eventually make the devices mandatory.
The public light bus switch to LPG or electric vehicles is also being funded with grants, which will be available until 2005. As with the particulate removal devices, the effects will not be felt for awhile, but they most certainly will bring improvements in the long run. The light bus trade is supportive of the scheme and has expressed its willingness to make the switch.
Hong Kong's exhaustive motor vehicle programme is succeeding because it has involved extensive consultations with the trades - and, of course, government grants to help cushion the costs. Roadside air pollution is improving, but controlling vehicle emissions alone will not improve the cloudy views. Hong Kong must continue to reduce its other sources of air pollution and work with its counterparts around the region to ensure lasting impacts.
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Hong Kong and Guangdong are working together to improve air quality in the Pearl River Delta region
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Air pollution is often caused by vibrant economic activity. Factories churn out goods, power plants provide electricity and vehicles transport the goods to customers. Hong Kong saw its pollution levels rise in the 1980s and 1990s as its economy accelerated. Guangdong has seen the same effect over the past 10 years.
The air pollutants from the different sources have combined to create a chemical soup over the region. Depending on the way the wind blows and the local sources of pollution, some places will have higher levels than others on certain days or at certain times of year. Nonetheless, every area in the region suffers unacceptable levels of smog.
Given the regional nature of air pollution, the Hong Kong SAR Government and the Guangdong Provincial Government agreed to try and address the problem together. In 1999 they began a joint study aimed at assessing the types and sources of air pollutants, the likely future air quality and the best way to control the problem. The results were released in April 2002.
The study produced no surprises, concluding air pollution would become significantly worse if nothing more was done to reduce emissions. By 2015, the entire region alone would experience a 36 to 75 per cent increase in pollutants over the study's base year of 1997, depending on the type of pollutant. These predictions were set against the fact that regional air quality had already deteriorated significantly in the years before 1997.
Needless to say, the pollutants involved all have health impacts. RSPs, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and volatile organic compounds (the precursor to smog-creating ozone) can harm the lungs and, in some cases, shorten lives. Hong Kong contributes between five and 20 per cent of regional air pollution, depending on the pollutant.
Both the Hong Kong and Guangdong governments have been trying to address the problem. Hong Kong has its motor vehicle emissions control programme. The government also addressed industrial pollution in 1990, when high-sulphur industrial fuel was banned, resulting in an immediate six-fold decrease in sulphur dioxide levels. During the 1990s, our power plants installed devices to reduce their pollution, such as flue gas desulphurisation systems and low-NOx burners, and introduced a cleaner, natural gas power plant. The government hopes to continue to reduce emissions from power plants. Guangdong, meanwhile, has a detailed package of measures to shut down polluting industries, re-structure its energy supply sector and control other sources of air pollution.
 The joint study with Guangdong has helped both sides to focus on the problem of air pollution in a larger context. It has provided a framework, in the form of air pollution reduction targets, for Hong Kong and Guangdong to try and meet. Taking 1997 as the base year, both governments have agreed to try to reduce respirable suspended particulates by 55 per cent by 2010, sulphur dioxide levels by 40 per cent, nitrogen oxides by 20 per cent and volatile organic compounds by 55 per cent.
These targets are based on what could be achievable within current technologies, such as using cleaner fuel for power generation or tightening vehicle emission standards. The Hong Kong and Guangdong governments will work together to agree on the best way forward and draft a regional air quality management plan by the end of 2003. They will be looking at all practical options, including a form of emissions trading. They will also set up a regional air quality monitoring network in 2003, with three of the 16 monitoring stations located in Hong Kong, and pursue technical exchanges.
Whatever options are agreed, their implementation will likely require a great deal of effort on both sides. It is difficult to estimate costs at this stage because those will depend on what measures are eventually adopted. But the community must be prepared for the fact that further investment will be needed to clear the skies. Significant improvements have been made in roadside pollution, a heartening example of the fact that environmental degradation can be reversed. In the next few years, the challenge will be to continue that reversal and turn the skies above Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta blue again.
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