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Proposals To Ban Drivers Idling Engines

Jan 2nd, 2009
by AdminCTA.
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Government revises proposals to ban drivers idling engines

Regina Leung – SCMP – Updated on Jan 02, 2009

The government has revised a legislative proposal to ban drivers from running the engines of their vehicles when they were idle, Acting-Secretary for the Environment Kitty Poon Kit on Friday.

The government launched a five-month public consultation on the proposal in November 2007.

To reduce the air pollution problem, a consultation document on the issue proposed that if drivers did not switch off a vehicle’s engine when it was idle, they would be given a fixed-penalty ticket.

However, Ms Poon said restrictions on drivers of taxis, minibuses and coaches would be eased.

Sources said the original proposal suggested giving exemptions to the first two taxis at a taxi stand. This has now has been revised to the first five taxis.

The first two minibuses at the same public light bus (PLB) stand, with different routes, will also have exemptions.

The exemption will be given to taxis and PLBs in a moving queue at their designated stops and stands, local media reported

“The revised proposal was due for consideration of the industry’s practical needs and we have proposed appropriate exemptions to meet operators’ demands,” she said.

“We have tried to strike a balance between the needs of the public and the transport trade,” added Ms Poon.

She said Environmental Protection Department officials would meet transport industry representatives to discuss the details about the revised proposal in the coming two days.

“The proposal would be submitted to Legislative Council’s environmental affairs panel later this month. We hope that the new law will be enacted some time this year,” she said.

Eastern Hong Kong Island Enjoys Best Air

Jan 2nd, 2009
by AdminCTA.
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Pollution worst in western areas that are close to container terminals

Daniel Sin – SCMP – Updated on Jan 02, 2009

While many districts suffer rising levels of health-threatening pollution, residents in the east of Hong Kong Island have the cleanest air, and it has been improving over the years.

Eastern district has not recorded a reading of more than 100 on the Air Pollution Index since 2005 and, with the two other cleanest districts, Tai Po and Sha Tin, has recorded consistently improved readings.

In contrast, ambient readings at general stations in Yuen Long, Kwai Chung, Sham Shui Po, Central and Western, and Tung Chung are consistently worse than the rest of the city. In particular, in Kwai Chung last year, the number of hours when the API exceeded 100 – an alarm threshold of poor air quality – increased by 166.6 per cent from 2007.

Visibility has improved, with more blue skies creating an illusion of cleaner air. A visibility level of below 8km is defined as “reduced visibility”.

In the first 11 months of last year there were 1,654 hours of reduced visibility at the airport – an improvement of 10.4 per cent from the same period in 2007.

During the same period, there were about 1,000 hours of reduced visibility at the Observatory, the same level as last year. But experts said more clear days did not necessarily mean the air was cleaner.

“Improved visibility has little to do with the reduction of pollutant concentration, especially in areas at close range to people,” said Angus Wong Chun-yin of Friends of the Earth.

Simon Ng Ka-wing of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, explaining why western areas usually suffered poorer air quality, said: “These districts are close to the container terminals. The emissions from vessels are high in sulfur dioxide concentration that could explain the high readings of the API from general stations in these districts.

“Besides, the air quality in these areas is more affected by the emissions from factories in the Pearl River Delta than the rest of the city.”

One exception was the isolated Sai Kung island of Tap Mun, which suffered high pollution despite having no traffic.

“This is because Tap Mun is close to a sea route to [the Shenzhen container port of] Yantian .”

Dr Ng said the impact of high pollutant concentration could be reduced with better town planning, building designs, and energy conservation measures.

Air quality objectives adopted in 1987 define the highest concentration of pollutants that can be tolerated within a given time without causing immediate health risks.

These include sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, ozone and breathable respirable suspended particles. For example, sulfur dioxide should not be allowed to exceed 800 micrograms per cubic metre of air in one hour.

Samples are collected at three roadside monitoring stations and 11 general monitoring stations that check ambient air quality in urban areas, new towns and rural areas.

The Environmental Protection Department compares the concentration of each of the pollutants against the respective air quality objective and picks the highest sub-index as the API.

Hong Kong Air Pollution

Air pollution danger days rise in 2008

Jan 2nd, 2009
by AdminCTA.
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API shows street-level air worsens

Daniel Sin – SCMP – Updated on Jan 02, 2009

Despite clearer skies and government efforts to switch vehicles to cleaner fuel, the air was dirtier than ever across much of the city last year, according to air pollution index data.

The number of hours in which street-level pollution exceeded danger levels at three of the most crowded areas rose by 14 per cent – and by more than 40 per cent in one area.

Meanwhile, in the western parts of the city, which have the worst air quality, the number of hours in which the ambient air pollution exceeded danger levels also rose, although cleaner areas of the city saw an improvement in air quality.

The figures prompted a warning from a university expert of the long-term health effects on residents.

But the government insisted air quality was in fact improving, saying the API as now calculated did not give the full picture – a response that raised questions from an environmental group about why it is still being used.

The number of hours last year when roadside pollution, measured by monitoring stations in Central, Causeway Bay and Mong Kok, exceeded an API of 100 totalled 2,007, up 14 per cent from 1,760 hours in 2007, and a six-year high.

An API of over 100 indicates the pollutants in the air pose immediate health risks, especially to people with respiratory or heart illnesses.

The API figures, published by the Environmental Protection Department, show that roadside air quality was the poorest in Central, where 1,013 hours of API readings over 100 were recorded, up 34.2 per cent from 2007. This was followed by Mong Kok, which had slightly fewer than 600 hours above the threshold, a drop of 18.1 per cent. In Causeway Bay, there were 402 hours of poor air quality, up 42.6 per cent from 2007.

An Environmental Protection Department spokeswoman said that as the API was based on just one of a list of pollutants that recorded the highest concentration on a given day, the readings did not represent the trend of air pollution concentrations.

“A more scientific, robust and commonly adopted approach by professionals to assess long-term air quality trends is to examine the annual trends of air pollutant concentrations,” she said.

Friends of the Earth environmental affairs officer Angus Wong Chung-yin found the explanation confusing.

“[It] shows the API is not sufficient to give the public an accurate picture of the air pollution if people are not able to draw a conclusion from the trend figures,” he said. “In this case, the government should review the approach and develop better indicators to help people understand the changing situation in air quality.”

On the department’s claim that roadside concentrations of some pollutants had fallen, Mr Wong admitted there had been an improvement, but it appeared to have levelled off since 2004.

Professor Wong Tze-wai, of Chinese University’s department of community and family medicine, said the health impact could be long-lasting. “Our research shows that an increase in 10 micrograms of a pollutant in every cubic metre of air will increase the rate of death, hospitalisation or treatment in a clinic by 1 to 1.5 per cent, depending on the type of the pollutant,” he said.

Roadside Air Pollution Levels Cannot Be Ignored

Jan 2nd, 2009
by AdminCTA.
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Jan 02, 2009 – Leader

More frequent clear skies over our city have helped boost the government’s claim that its efforts against air pollution are succeeding. To an extent, the claim is merited. The levels of some major pollutants have indeed fallen sharply. Their roadside concentrations have been reduced by about 20 per cent in the past decade. Among these are respirable suspended particulates, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide, all of which pose a major health risk.

Improved visibility also means better safety for vessels and planes; and clear blue skies are good for Hong Kong’s international image, which has been tarnished by high air pollution. No one wants to remember the Pearl of the Orient as being engulfed in choking gray smog. But picture-perfect skies do not tell the whole story. What we see is not a good indicator of what we actually breathe into our lungs.

As we report today, the number of hours that roadside monitors have clocked up above the alarm level of 100 on the air pollution index has soared in the past year. The three monitoring stations in Central, Causeway Bay and Mong Kok recorded a total of 2,007 hours, up 14 per cent from 1,760 hours in 2007. Central alone recorded 1,013 hours, a jump of 34 per cent from the year before. Causeway Bay had 402 hours, up 42.6 per cent, but Mong Kok dropped about 18 per cent with 592 hours.

The Environmental Protection Department has argued that air pollution trends are best measured by the concentrations of pollutants rather than the number of hours the API goes above 100. To be sure, unfavourable weather patterns often contribute to high API levels, but they are not necessarily the cause of a long-term trend. Admittedly, the overall decade-long trends of major pollutants have seen their concentrations either falling or levelling off. Positive contributing factors include the conversion of taxis and minibuses to LPG, the introduction of ultra-low-sulfur diesel and tighter vehicle emission standards for buses. Tougher control measures imposed by Guangdong authorities are also a significant contribution.

However, the department’s arguments are not entirely convincing. Weather patterns work both ways. Just as unfavourable conditions can push up the API, favourable ones can help bring about clear skies. More misleading is the department’s claim that frequently high API readings at roadside levels are not a good indicator of air quality trends. The department itself sets up the index as a simple way to inform the public about air quality. Surely the amount of time the index measuring roadside pollution as being above alarm levels is a highly relevant factor to consider. Otherwise, the index has no use for the public.

Many air-quality objectives the department has achieved deserve recognition. But contrary indicators may also be a warning signal. During the recent economic boom years, the number of private cars has shot up. People should be discouraged from driving in congested districts, such as by pedestrianising more roads.

More importantly, a government review panel is close to finalising a study of stronger World Health Organisation standards on air quality introduced two years ago. Despite the tougher standards, the WHO does not impose them, but encourages individual cities to adopt a realistic plan to introduce them in phases. The panel should make adopting the WHO standards a matter of urgency. A world city needs clean air and world-class standards to maintain it.

Comprehensive Measures To Clean Up Air

Dec 29th, 2008
by AdminCTA.
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Updated on Dec 29, 2008 – SCMP

I refer to the letter by Richard Fielding (“Lack of will to fight pollution”, December 19).

The government is determined to improve Hong Kong’s air quality. On the home front, we have implemented comprehensive measures to control our emissions at source. We have capped the emissions of the power plants and required the use of ultra-low-sulfur diesel across all industrial and commercial processes. We are controlling products that contain volatile organic compounds in a manner similar to California. Our control on vehicular fuel and emission standards is on a par with the most stringent European requirements. To address the regional smog issue, we are working with the Guangdong provincial government to reduce the emissions of four key air pollutants in the region by 20 per cent to 55 per cent by 2010.

We are reviewing our air quality objectives taking into account the latest international developments including the air quality guidelines published by the World Health Organisation.

Professor Fielding raised concern about the relationship between air pollutant concentrations and the air pollution index (API). Like many other overseas API systems, our API is computed by – converting the concentrations of various pollutants over different averaging times ranging from one hour to 24 hours into sub-indices by comparing the concentrations with the respective one hour to 24-hour air quality objectives; and, taking the highest of the sub-indices as the API for a station at that hour.

The air quality objectives for respirable suspended particulates (RSP) are based on an averaging time of 24 hours instead of one hour, due to the lack of scientific evidence with respect to the exposure-response relationship for RSP over a period as short as one hour. Hence the API for RSP is computed based on moving 24-hour average concentrations instead of one-hour concentrations.

The API is derived from the actual pollutant concentrations and therefore bears direct relationship with the state of air quality. On December 15, the day mentioned by Professor Fielding, the API for the general stations was on the upper side of the high band, and the roadside API was up to 104 at the Central roadside station in the afternoon. Both readings indicated that the pollution level on that day was considered high or very high.

To make the API more useful to the public we have engaged a team of leading academics from local universities to review our API system and draw up its recommendations for improvement. The review will be completed within 2009.

Dave Ho, principal environmental protection officer, Environmental Protection Department

Web Index Tracks Real-time Health, Economic Impact Of Air Pollution

Dec 19th, 2008
by AdminCTA.
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Cheung Chi-fai, SCMP – Updated on Dec 19, 2008

An index believed to be the first anywhere to offer continuous, real-time measurement of the economic and health impacts of air pollution was launched yesterday in Hong Kong on a website that claims to reveal the “cold hard facts” about the city’s air quality. The Hedley Environmental Index was developed by the University of Hong Kong’s department of community medicine and school of public health in conjunction with independent think-tank Civic Exchange, to improve public awareness of the consequences of air pollution.

They also hope to influence government officials, lawmakers, district councillors, businesses and schools.

The website carries an air-quality tracker, which compares the real-time air quality data supplied by the Environmental Protection Department with the World Health Organisation’s recommended limits on pollutants.

The comparison shows that most of the time air quality is well below the WHO recommendations.

The index and tracker have been launched just weeks before the government is expected to announce the results of its review of the city’s air-quality objectives and issue proposals for public consultation.

The most innovative part of the index is its constantly updated tally of the cumulative costs of air pollution. Users can search for figures for a day or part of it, a particular month or year, for example.

With a few clicks, they can find out the costs – in money, premature deaths, hospital bed-days and visits to the doctor – of air pollution.

At 6pm yesterday, the index showed that this year, more than 1,100 people in Hong Kong had died prematurely and economic losses of more than HK$2.2 billion had been incurred because of air pollution.

In an earlier report, Civic Exchange estimated that 1,600 premature deaths a year would be avoided in Hong Kong if air quality improved to levels close to those recommended by the WHO. No country has yet adopted those guidelines.

The tracker also shows how air quality has changed over the years.

The website does not carry the official Air Pollution Index (API).

“The API is a museum piece. It is outdated and is a fossil. From the pollution point of view, it should be ignored,” said Anthony Hedley, of the university’s department of community medicine, after whom the new index was named.

Professor Hedley criticised the government’s recent proposal to adopt the lowest WHO air-quality guidelines – intended for developing countries – as a “complete waste of time” and said he could not understand the reasoning behind it.

Christine Loh Kung-wai, chief executive of Civic Exchange, said the Hedley index would be useful to various groups, particularly those more vulnerable to air pollution such as children and the elderly.

“The index lays down a marker, minute by minute, that tells us all exactly how much we have to do,” Ms Loh said.

Sarah McGee, of the university’s school of public health, said the air-pollution costs had been derived using methodology widely adopted internationally and were “conservative estimates”.

On the Web

To see the index and tracker, visit http://147.8.71.207/pollution/index.php

Lack Of Will To Fight Pollution

Dec 19th, 2008
by AdminCTA.
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SCMP – Updated on Dec 19, 2008

On Monday, the air pollution index (API) on the Environmental Protection Department website for the previous 24 hours ranged from 84 to 88; that was bad enough. But a study of the previous 24-hour pollutant concentrations reveals that, in Causeway Bay, respirable suspended particulate (RSPs) levels were 150 at 3pm and 168 at 8pm on Sunday; then 115 at 6am and 154 at 2pm on Monday.

The corresponding levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) a known respiratory poison, were 168, 140, 83 and 143, respectively. In Yuen Long at 2pm, RSPs were a staggering 256: in Mong Kok, NO2 was 240. Nowhere was the API registering above 100.

Three points are to be made about this. First, the API bears little or no relationship to the actual daily pollutant concentrations which are dangerously high and damage the health of all Hong Kong citizens more than a downturn in the economy. The persistent use of an outdated API is literally a smokescreen by government criminally negligent in its duty of care for the public’s health.

Second, the cyclic pattern shows a high correlation with urban activity, indicating that locally generated – not imported – pollution is to blame, particularly for high NO2 levels.

Third, despite the usual Observatory explanation of a lack of wind, the cause of the problem is clearly a lack of will. The population remains misinformed about the perilous state of our air and the damage it is doing to people’s health. It is about time the government was taken to task about its failure to face up to the true state of Hong Kong’s air and not just in the pages of the South China Morning Post. Would the undersecretary for environment care to comment?

Richard Fielding, professor, school of public health, University of Hong Kong

Pollution Alerts And Effects On Internet Tracker

Dec 19th, 2008
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HK Standard – Friday, December 19, 2008

An air pollution tracker has been launched to give readings online on smog and its associated costs in real time.

The Hedley Environmental Index, which provides readings from the Environmental Protection Department’s general and roadside stations, was commissioned by the Civic Exchange and developed by the Department of Community Medicine, School of Public Health of Hong Kong University.

“By showing how far our pollution exceeds the World Health Organization’s Air Quality Guidelines, and how much this is costing us in dollars and affecting lives, HEI lays down a minute by minute marker that tells us how much we have to do,” Civic Exchange chief executive Christine Loh Kung-wai said.

“You may check the weather and the air pollution index, but low, moderate and high API readings given by the government are vague at best.”

The tracker will allow users to have a better grasp of the air quality to expect, Friends of the Earth director Edwin Lau Che-feng said.

SPH chairman Anthony Hedley added: “The index makes clear that we are facing an epidemic of heart and lung disease. The current standard doesn’t offer … an indication of the damage to their health or how to reduce their exposure,”

HEI can be found at sph.hku.hk/ hedleyindex. TIMOTHY CHUI

An Interview of Christian Masset on Topic of Air Pollution in Hong Kong

Dec 12th, 2008
by AdminCTA.
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Christian Masset, Chairman of CTA, Bloomberg – 12 Dec 2008

Chairman of CTA, Christian Masset, was interviewed on 12 Dec 08 and broadcast in Bloomberg. He talked about the actions Government should take to clear the air in Hong Kong, even in the situation of recent economic crisis.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=53691208472&oid=18005249752

Fees For Older Vehicles May Rise

Nov 19th, 2008
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Cheung Chi-fai – SCMP | Updated on Nov 19, 2008

Licence fees for more than 30,000 commercial vehicles may rise under a proposal that aims to encourage the replacement of polluting vehicles older than 15 years, according to the environment watchdog.

The new rule would affect all types of commercial vehicles regardless of their fuel types and emission standards, but Environmental Protection Department officials gave no figures on fee increases they might be considering as enough to deter the continued use of old vehicles.

Officials said in a paper submitted to the legislature yesterday that the proposal was intended to be introduced by 2010, when the HK$3.2 billion subsidy for the replacement of the old diesel commercial vehicle fleet expired.

Launched last year, the scheme has been regarded as a failure as only 23 per cent of pre-Euro and 14 per cent of Euro I vehicles have been replaced with newer Euro IV models, which are up to two times cleaner than the old models.

The term Euro refers to a set of standards defining the acceptable limits for exhaust emissions of new vehicles sold in European Union member states.

The paper said older vehicles tended to have more breakdowns and tailpipe emissions of up to four times higher than a new vehicle.

Officials believed that a vehicle age of 15 years – and all pre-Euro standard vehicles will reach that age by 2010 – was the right threshold to trigger the fee increase.

There are about 30,000 vehicles registered on or before 1995 on the road, including more than 1,720 that are at least 20 years old. They are charged a licensing fee of between HK$1,289 and HK$8,429 each year.

Lai Kim-tak, spokesman for the Medium and Heavy Truck Concern Group, opposed the scheme, which he said would increase truck operators’ financial burden amid a serious business downturn. He said the government should buy old vehicles, similar to the chicken industry buyout.

But Friends of the Earth director Edwin Lau Che-feng said the proposed 15-year threshold was too lenient; the cut-off should be 10 years and made specific to each Euro-model standard.

He called for a double-digit fee rise and said the government could consider using vehicle mileage as one of the parameters to determine the level of the increase.

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