Letter to the Editor of SCMP - Response to a letter on Air Quality Objectives Review consultation

 
Letter to the Editor of SCMP – Response to a letter on Air Quality Objectives Review consultation

We are thankful to the comments made by Mr K N Wai ("Aspirations for a city with cleaner air", SCMP, December 24) in response to our Review of Air Quality Objectives (AQOs) consultation and on the issue of climate change.

The Review proposes a set of new AQOs for the protection of public health in light of the air quality guidelines of the World Health Organisation. It also recommends a host of emission control measures, some of which are broadly similar to those suggested by Mr Wai, for delivering the proposed new AQOs. Specifically, the public consultation seeks the views on the package of proposed emission control measures, the pace under which they should be taken forward and the price that the community is willing to pay for better air quality. All these are important questions that the community as a whole has to address before Government takes a final view on the way forward.

Power plants are the largest local emitter of air pollutants and greenhouse gases. We share Mr Wai’s views that we have to reduce our dependence on coal in favour of cleaner fuels. As a matter of fact, we have required all new power generation units to be gas-fired since 1997. To further promote cleaner fuel mix for achieving the proposed new AQOs, a key recommendation put forth by the AQOs Review is to increase the proportion of local electricity generation by natural gas from the current 30% to 50%.

To reduce emissions from diesel vehicles, the Government introduced two incentive programmes in 2000 and 2002 respectively to replace diesel taxis and public light buses with cleaner liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vehicles. Almost all taxis and over 60% of the public light buses are now running on LPG.

The Government has also launched an incentive scheme to encourage the use of environment-friendly petrol private cars (including hybrid and electric vehicles) through First Registration Tax (FRT) concession or waiver. In particular, the Financial Secretary is chairing a steering committee to make recommendations on strategy and measures to promote the use of electric vehicles.

On promoting the development of green buildings, the Government has drawn up carbon audit guidelines for buildings and launched a “Green Hong Kong - Carbon Audit” campaign in July 2008. Based on the results of the audits conducted on the initial batch of 17 government buildings, departments will introduce suitable measures to further enhance the energy efficiency of their buildings. All government buildings with more than 10,000 m2 are encouraged to carry out regular carbon audit and release the findings in their annual Environmental Performance Reports. In addition, the Government has required all bureaux and departments to set electricity saving targets with a view to achieving a 5% reduction in the total electricity consumption in government buildings.

We are now studying carefully the submissions on the AQOs Review public consultation. Mr Wai may rest assured that we will take them fully into account in updating the AQOs and mapping out our long-term air quality management strategy.


PANG Sik-wing
Principal Environmental Protection Officer
Environmental Protection Department