Today, the Government announced the “Third Technical Memorandum for Allocation of Emission Allowances in Respect of Specified Licenses,” which sets the cap for the amount of annual emissions from the power generation sector in 2017.  Clean Air Network (CAN) welcomes this, as the new emission caps will further reduce the amount of emissions from local power plants and help improve local and regional air quality. However, as they stand, the new emission targets for nitrogen oxides (NOx) are far too lax.

The 2017 emission caps mentioned in the new technical memorandum will be 10,399 tonnes for sulphur dioxide (SO₂), 25,950 tonnes for NOx and 750 tonnes for respirable suspended particulates (RSP).  And according to the new emission inventory recently released by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD), the actual amount of emissions from the power generation sector in 2010 was 17,800 tonnes for SO₂, 27,000 tonnes for NOx and 1,010 tonnes for RSP (Table 1).  What this means is the percentage of emissions reduced from 2010 to 2017 will be 42% for SO₂, 4% for NOx, and 26% for RSP.

A 4% overall reduction over a period of seven years is a very small figure and unacceptable given Hong Kong’s current air quality status.  NOx causes respiratory symptoms and impairs visibility, while also contributing to the creation of a secondary pollutant, ozone, which is toxic and can trigger asthma.  Moreover, roadside concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which is part of the NOx family and another significant health threat, reached an all time high last year.

CAN also found that, instead of decreasing, the amount of NOx emissions from power company CLP actually increased 22% last year, compared to 2010. This further underscores the magnitude of the NOx emissions problem from the power generation sector and demonstrates the need for more aggressive action.

Table 1.  Emissions from the power generation sector

Further study reveals the emission targets set in the new technical memorandum (TM) as less aggressive than outlined in the last TM (Table 2).  The annual emission reduction rates from 2010 to 2015, as detailed by the last TM, were 10% for SO₂, 7% for NOx, and 7% for RSP.  However, the annual emission reduction rates from 2015 to 2017, as detailed by the new TM, were 9% for SO₂, 3% for NOx, and 5% to RSP – lower numbers than before.

Table 2. Annual emissions reduction rate set by the second (2010-2015) and third (2015-2017) technical memorandum (TM)

Education and Research Manager at CAN, Yuling Jia says, “Power generation is the primary source of air pollution and third biggest contributor to NOx emissions in Hong Kong.  The 2017 emission caps set for NOx are too lax to serve the purpose of alleviating the severe air pollution problem that Hong Kong is facing today.”