Clear The Air News Blog Rotating Header Image

Vehicle

Beijing Roads See 1,500 New Cars A Day

Feb 17th, 2009
by AdminCTA.
Comments are off for this post

Reuters in Beijing, SCMP – Updated on Feb 17, 2009

The capital has added nearly 1,500 new cars to its notoriously congested roads each day so far this year, state media said on Tuesday, despite a nationwide fall in car sales and efforts to cut traffic. “The city is facing serious traffic pressure and safety risks due to the growing number of automobiles,” Song Jianguo, head of the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau, was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying.

Beijing registered 65,970 new vehicles in the first 45 days of the year, or a daily increase of 1,466, Xinhua said.

Authorities have introduced incentives to try to boost domestic demand but official data shows car sales in January fell 7.76 per cent from a year earlier as traditionally roaring economic growth slowed.

Beijing has also introduced rules aimed at taking a fifth of private cars off the road each day, according to licence plate numbers, to ease congestion and pollution.

Mainland roads have long been among the most dangerous in the world due to overloaded and speeding trucks and drivers who switch lanes without signalling and often ignore traffic lights.

The country recorded 5.1 road accident deaths for every 10,000 motor vehicles in 2007, the highest rate in the world, Xinhua reported earlier.

Green Initiatives Urged To Keep Prices Down And Create Jobs

Feb 16th, 2009
by AdminCTA.
Comments are off for this post

Albert Wong and Tiffany Lam, SCMP – Updated on Feb 16, 2009

The Civic Party and Green Sense have called on the government to use any surplus on green initiatives that can keep prices down and create jobs. The party said HK$6 billion should be set aside to subsidise buses to convert to cleaner engines.

The proposal is part of the party’s “green new deal” – regular proposals to create a greener city while offering more business opportunities.

It referred to studies showing air pollution costs the city HK$1.5 billion a year in direct health costs, and HK$21 billion in lost productivity. The HK$6 billion would go towards either fixing after-treatment devices onto current buses by the end of this year, or replacing buses at least 14 years old with ones that run on the latest green engines by 2010. There have been a range of forecasts on the government’s fiscal situation, with predictions ranging from a small surplus to a small deficit.

Conservancy group Green Sense issued several talking points, urging the government to use HK$11 billion to create a “greener economy”.

It proposed the government shell out HK$4 billion to develop renewable energy, creating 7,000 jobs for architects and engineers; HK$3 billion should be allotted to buttress the city’s recycling facilities; and HK$2 billion could be used to promote green roofs to reduce the heat-island effect.

Green Sense also said HK$1.5 billion should be used to improve the efficiency of air conditioners, with the rest spent on policies such as promoting eco-tourism and developing a local market for organic foods. It estimated the package should generate 17,200 jobs.

Historic Opportunity For A Cleaner, Greener World

Feb 7th, 2009
by AdminCTA.
Comments are off for this post

SCMP – Updated on Feb 07, 2009

China and the United States are not only two of the world’s most important economies but also its worst polluters. The economic crisis has raised the spectre of protectionism and a trade war between them. However, an unexpected opening may put them on a more co-operative footing: climate change. China is reeling from environmental degradation that has put its economic development in jeopardy. Under former president George W. Bush, the US compromised its leadership by ignoring global warming and its potentially devastating effects. By working together, the two nations will not only help secure a brighter future for their own citizens, but for humankind too. The world desperately needs a viable treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, one that will drastically curb greenhouse gas emissions before global warming becomes irreversible. It is unlikely to succeed without China and the US on board. Negotiations have stalled despite a looming deadline. The rich countries, led by the US and the European Union, want to impose emission caps on emerging economies. But many developing nations, represented by China and India, will only accept voluntary limits and say the rich economies – as, historically, the biggest polluters – should pay for the cleanup and help them develop clean technology and alternative energy.

The latest signals from Washington may indicate a way forward. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has called on China to work with the US to develop “a strong and constructive partnership” and build clean-energy economies under “a new framework”. China’s ambassador to the United States, Zhou Wenzhong, reaffirmed the two nations had many shared interests in energy development and climate change. Both sides are preparing a positive atmosphere for Mrs Clinton’s East Asia tour this month, her first overseas trip since taking over America’s top diplomatic post. Beijing has previously underscored the importance it attaches to climate change as a potential flashpoint of its foreign policy by setting up a top-level group headed by Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

But meaningful co-operation has to benefit both sides. China’s transport boom is a growing environmental challenge. Beijing should make it a matter of national policy to promote hybrid and electric cars and phase out polluting vehicles. There is a huge potential market here for the car industries of the US and Japan. US carmakers are being bailed out by the federal government and are under pressure to produce not only fuel-efficient vehicles but “green” cars as well. China’s market can be a lifeline for them. China should also harness market forces to help its industries adopt alternative energy and clean-coal technology. It needs to accelerate a programme to force coal-fired power stations and factories to clean up and use energy more efficiently. Beijing is right to promote the wider use of natural gas in the richer southeast, as it has in the northwest.

But as the world’s biggest producer of greenhouse gases on a per capita basis, Americans must change their
lifestyle. US President Barack Obama will embark on massive rebuilding of public infrastructure as part of an economic recovery plan. He will do well to focus on building public transport systems to break the American habit of going everywhere in gas guzzlers. Instead of encouraging the development of distant suburbs, people should live closer to cities or to where they work. China and the US must work together to foster a better environment for future generations. They must not squander this historic opportunity.

Idling Engine Ban Necessary

Feb 4th, 2009
by AdminCTA.
Comments are off for this post

SCMP – Updated on Feb 04, 2009

When will Hong Kong stop debating and simply do the right thing and ban all idling vehicles? It is a shame that any vehicle is allowed to sit and idle for more than five minutes. Engines should be switched off to reduce emissions, oil pollution and noise pollution.

I have read that idling vehicles slow down the catalytic converter, which is what helps keep emissions down, but only works when it is hot.

If a vehicle is going to be sitting for more than 30 seconds it is better to shut it off, even though turning it on will use a burst of gas.

While an hour of idling can produce 2.36kg of carbon dioxide in a car, imagine what all these public and tourist buses produce?

We’ve heard it all before, but Hong Kong still has a growing number of people with asthma, lung and heart conditions who would welcome the idea. What is more, this pollution hurts Hong Kong’s tourism and attractiveness as a place of work.

D. F. Weil, Kowloon Bay

KMB To Phase Out Older Buses

Jan 16th, 2009
by AdminCTA.
Comments are off for this post

Anita Lam, SCMP – Updated on Jan 16, 2009

Kowloon Motor Bus intends to phase out within three years its 400-plus buses built before 1992 in favour of less polluting models.

The other main franchised bus operators, New World First Bus and Citybus, have pledged to phase out their 90 pre-1992 models – known as pre-Euro because they began operating before the European Union began setting emissions standards in 1992 – by 2012. They will also phase out more than 400 Euro I buses – which meet the EU’s 1992 standards – by then.

KMB principal engineer Kane Shum Yuet-hung said although it operated 401 pre-Euro buses, they had long ago been upgraded to meet the Euro I standards. Likewise its 943 Euro I buses had been upgraded to meet the 1996 Euro II standards.

By next year, when fitting of particulate filters to its 1,675 Euro II and III buses was finished, the emissions of its fleet would be 90 per cent less than they were in 1992.

“After [this upgrade], I guarantee you will never again see black smoke coming from a bus exhaust pipe,” Mr Shum said.

He said the Transport Department had approved its purchase of 145 Euro IV buses that met 2005 EU standards, delivery of which was expected this year. KMB would seek approval later to buy another 256 of the buses to complete the phase-out.

Pre-Euro and Euro I buses accounted for half the 100 tonnes of respirable suspended particles (RSPs) and nitrogen oxides franchised buses emitted in 2006. Euro IV buses emit 97 per cent less RSPs than pre-Euro buses, 61 per cent less nitrogen oxides and 81 per cent less hydrocarbons.

Meanwhile, opposition to another measure to improve air quality rose, with some taxi drivers threatening industrial action unless granted a hot-weather exemption from a proposed ban on idling engines.

But Secretary for the Environment Edward Yau Tang-wah told lawmakers that such an exemption would be unfair to pedestrians, who would feel uncomfortable inhaling engine exhaust on hot days.

Hong Kong’s Air Pollution Causes Some to Think Twice About Living There

Jan 15th, 2009
by AdminCTA.
Comments are off for this post

By Kari Jensen, VOA News.com – 15 January 2009

Air pollution in Hong Kong has gotten so bad that some businesses are losing staff and customers. A city watchdog group says the government is not doing enough to reduce pollution, much of which comes from mainland China.

Hong Kong’s skies were clear and blue when Alan Knight first arrived there in 1993. But, within 12 years, the city had become so polluted there were days when he could not see through the gray haze across Victoria Harbor.

Knight’s work requires travel. He is a journalist and professor. He also has a lung condition, which usually is dormant. But it flared, a few years back, when he returned to Hong Kong. He was hospitalized and received high dosages of antibiotics. Once he was back in Brisbane, Australia the condition resolved itself.

Knight says he is looking to move back to Asia, but not Hong Kong.

“I think the atmosphere in Hong Kong is really toxic,” he said. “I’d love to come back to Hong Kong. I love the city. I love the people. I love the place. But, quite frankly, I’m likely to live in Singapore.”

The city’s poor air quality is affecting both its residents’ health and its economy. A recent survey shows one in five Hong Kongers may leave the city, because of air pollution. Air pollution costs more than $283 million annually in health care costs and lost job prospects.

Michael DeGolyer is a professor in international studies at Hong Kong Baptist University. He conducted the air pollution survey for Civic Exchange, a public policy think tank.

He says about 30 percent of those who are seriously considering leaving because of bad air are mid- to high-level professionals.

DeGolyer says more than 97 percent of those surveyed were ethnic Chinese. He says air pollution is not just an expat concern.

“Everybody breathes air,” he said. “And, it’s become a concern to everybody now.”

In southern China, factories are closing down, in part because of tougher environmental standards. Still, Chinese factories in the Pearl River Delta north of Hong Kong are the city’s major source of pollution.

But half the time, Hong Kong’s pollution comes directly from its power plants, vehicular emissions and marine traffic.

In the city’s urban areas, tall buildings trap particulates, instead of allowing them to be dispersed by the wind. Residents live close to the roadways and are constantly exposed.

Local activists are looking to other major cities to see what they did to curtail pollution. DeGolyer says research in California shows money spent on air pollution abatement was more than recovered by reduced health care costs and improved worker productivity.

Civic Exchange is pushing Hong Kong to impose stricter air quality standards. It wants the environmental standards to also protect public health. It hosted a clean air conference recently, where international researchers, scientists, economists and academics discussed green measures.

Hong Kong’s present guidelines have not been updated for more than two decades. The city’s air quality, in terms of sulfur content, is much less stringent than World Health Organization guidelines set in 2006.

A Hong Kong legislature’s environmental affairs committee plans to review air quality guidelines and possibly adopt more stringent standards this year.

Hong Kong’s Environmental Protection Department has made efforts to curtail pollution. It has tightened vehicle and power plant emissions and introduced cleaner fuels.

Although sulfur dioxide emissions in the city have dropped back to almost 1997 levels, they are still well above the government’s emission-reduction targets. Air pollution worsened this past year.

Government detractors say, in terms of addressing air pollution, the legislature favors business, especially the transport lobby.

Businesses are quick to defend themselves. Al Hendricks works for a company that manufactures energy-saving equipment. He says industry is less resistant to change than government.

“There’s people here who just don’t want to make changes and are either afraid to or just don’t want to rock the boat for whatever reason,” he said.

Hendricks says the government needs to offer incentives if it wants businesses to enforce environmental standards.

As upper-level professionals leave Hong Kong for jobs in less-polluted cities, businesses may be forced to change without government prodding. The demand for top talent across Asia is high.

It is a delicate balance. By imposing stricter standards, Hong Kong may lose business to nearby Chinese ports and cities, which have looser standards. But, by not cleaning up its air, Hong Kong is already losing professionals and businesses.

The Hong Kong government is working with the government of southern Guangdong province to reduce regional emissions.

Guangdong has agreed to ban the construction of new coal-fired or oil-fired power plants.

Still, even if Hong Kong addresses its air pollution, it can not force Guangdong to take the same measures.

Board Backs Smaller Developments

Jan 9th, 2009
by AdminCTA.
Comments are off for this post

Olga Wong, SCMP – 10 January 2009

A meeting of the Town Planning Board yesterday endorsed the Planning Department’s action to reduce the bulkiness of residential developments proposed on the former North Point Estate site. But the meeting, which discussed the planning brief prepared by the department, urged the Transport Department to reduce the size of the public transport terminal to reduce air and noise pollution at street level.

Clear the Air: Letter to Legco Member On HK Air Pollution Policy

Jan 8th, 2009
by AdminCTA.
Comments are off for this post

The following letter was sent to the Legco Member by Clear The Air:

8th January 2009

Dear Legco Members,

Clear the Air commends the Legco motion to pressure the Government to act by adopting WHO standards at an appropriate level and not at emerging nation levels which are lower than we have now. http://147.8.71.207/pollution/graph.php

We fail to see how ARUP, the consultants appointed to perform the AQO study , could possibly know more than the eminent researchers used by WHO in formulating its standards. We see no benefit in the EPD further engaging the public in consultations on our pea soup air and delaying matters further.

Our major pollution sources that damage health (moreso the growing lungs of our children) are our coal burning power stations , old diesel trucks and busses, ocean vessels burning high sulphur bunker fuel in the busiest port in the world , unburnt aircraft kerosene and for half of the year, imported pollution from the PRD.

The Government must also be forced to accelerate the use of the 52 million cubic meters of methane currently being flared off from NENT, WENT and SENT landfills. In the UK Gasrec Ltd has produced a diesel fuel replacement from landfill methane, Liquid Biomethane to replace diesel use in vehicles.

In San Antonio Texas, human waste will be used to produce methane to power the whole city. In Rwanda a prison is run by electricity powered from the same source. In Hong Kong instead, Government is calling for quotes to build and operate a sludge incinerator rather than taking heed of the San Antonio project.
http://environment.about.com/od/fossilfuels/a/human_waste.htm

The power companies are burning more and more polluting coal. In 2007 CLP burned 3 times more coal than in 1997. In 2007 CLP used 40% less clean natural gas than in 1999 whilst producing more electricity. HK Electric has only one gas turbine capable of 335 MWh and produced only 17% of its product with gas last year.

The Government must insist on these WHO AQO standards and the power companies will comply by using BACT (Best Available Current Technology). If the standards are set too leniently the power companies can benefit from burning more Indonesian cheap coal whilst still meeting the emission standards.

The technology is available such as Indigo Agglomerators. http://www.indigotechnologies.com.au/. If you study the technical documentation available on this site
you will see how the tiny particulates reduce visibility opacity and add to the haze layer. The sky might be blue but the air we breathe is still smoggy grey and laden with these particulates. For the cost of 17 days’ coal supply CLP could retrofit a further 15 agglomerators and clear our air. HKEH would cost even less to do the same.

Only now are the power companies fitting Flue Gas Desulphurisation and NOx burner technology. In fact the super heat NOx burners create another problem in that they ‘crack’ the soot particles into lethal PM2.5 (report available). Current Electrostatic Precipitators in the power station stacks catch only 99% of soot particles and the remaining PM2.5 they cannot catch is then belched into the air. That is several thousand tonnes of lethal particles per year, let alone the greenhouse CO2. Hong Kong currently has no PM2.5 standard and PM2.5 is the killer; neither does it have any CO2 controls.

PM2.5 is a particulate with a diameter 1/30 of a human hair , it carries heavy metals and poisons from the coal and diesel combustion processes , cannot be stopped by nose hairs and so enters deep into the lungs.

It seems Hong Kong has a NATO Administration – No Action Talk Only.

Yours sincerely,

James Middleton

Chairman
Energy Committee
www.cleartheair.org.hk

Reference:  New Hong Kong Air Pollution Policy Proposed

HK Government Pushing To Ban Idling Car Engines To Tackle Pollution

Jan 3rd, 2009
by AdminCTA.
Comments are off for this post

channelnewsasia.com – 03 January 2009

HONG KONG: The Hong Kong government is pushing for a law to force drivers to turn off their engines when parked. But the bid to cut down on the city’s air pollution is being met with fierce opposition from the transportation industry.

It seems Hong Kong’s smog problem may be getting worse. 2008 data reported in the local newspapers showed that in the city’s most crowded areas, the number of hours air pollution exceeded dangerous levels jumped by 14 per cent, compared to a year ago.

Vehicles have been pinpointed as the second largest air polluter in the city.

Kitty Poon, Acting Secretary for the Environment, said: “The banning of idling vehicles with running engines has been discussed in the community for several years. The government has gained strong support from the public to move forward.”

However, the transportation trade is not in support of the ban. Drivers argue that when it comes to Hong Kong’s sweltering summers, constantly turning off air-conditioning will turn off passengers.

They also said that starting and stopping engines so many times a day would burn out their vehicles’ battery.

The government has now softened some of the rules for public transportation, including an exemption for the first five taxis parked at a taxi stand.

The government hopes the new law will be enacted this year. – CNA/vm

On Other Matters …

Jan 3rd, 2009
by AdminCTA.
Comments are off for this post

SCMP – Updated on Jan 03, 2009

I read a story on the Vectrix electric motorcycle in the Motoring column (“Brave new whirr”, May 24).

I note that the Hong Kong police used a number of these motorcycles to full effect during the Beijing Olympic torch relay (“Bike show gets a tour de force”, November 1).

My friends in the force have told me that all officers who used it rave about it in every way.

Your article mentioned the dealership and sole importer. I contacted them and they said they had them in stock but that the Transport Department had not licensed them yet because they had not completed their trials on the vehicles.

Well, the police are clearly happy with them and are still using them in their attractive green livery. Is it that the commissioner for transport thinks the Hong Kong public is incapable of operating an electric vehicle responsibly and will run out of juice suddenly in the outside lane of an expressway? Surely not.

Why, then, can I not pay the HK$90,000 and buy one, thus reducing my monthly fuel bill from HK$4,000 to HK$300? Oh, yes, and clean up the air a bit, too.

Could the relevant department please respond and get into top gear to save our air?

Siu Kwok-chu, Tai Po

← Earlier Posts Newer Posts →