Air Pollution News

There are two main focuses in the meeting and some other minor discussion. The two major points are the new Air Pollution Index (API) and the new arrangement about the replacement of old buses. The new API The most important news from the meeting is that EPD and 3 universities were working together on research about...
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For immediate release 20 July, 2010 Today, the Hong Kong medical profession (The Hong Kong Paediatric Society, The Hong Kong Geriatric Society, The Hong Kong Asthma Society, The Hong Kong Society of Paediatric Respirology, The Hong Kong Paediatric Nurses Association and Hong Kong Doctors Union) issued a bold and unprecedented letter to the Government, calling for immediate protection of...
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SCMP Joanne Ooi The timing of the bill to ban idling engines could not be worse. In July last year, the Hong Kong government announced its intention to overhaul the city’s air quality objectives – non-binding caps on the levels of seven air pollutants. To meet the new targets, the government commissioned the engineering firm Arup...
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Anita Lam SCMP A government plan to set up a low-emission zone in busy districts, including Central, Causeway Bay and Mong Kok, is probably not going to be put into action before the current administration ends its term in 2012. Low emission zones are areas where only Euro IV public buses would be allowed to enter. However,...
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Air pollution impacts drivers’ health Long-term health impacts on drivers 1.     Idling trucks versus trucks in transit emit far higher levels of pollutants per mile. The California Air Resources Board found that the per mile emission rate of organic carbon and elemental carbon from a heavy duty diesel truck in congested traffic is...
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CAN attended the most recent Bills Committee meeting for the idling bill this week. Here is a summary of the views expressed by various legislators during the session: Chan Hak Kan/ Tanya Chan Both members proposed to exempt vehicles when interior temperatures reach 27ºC, citing the case of Toronto.  The EPD pointed out that Toronto has...
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Cheung Chi-fai SCMP Yesterday, the EPD unveiled the results of the public consultation on the Air Quality Objectives to Legco’s Panel on Environmental Affairs. However, after nearly two years of consultancy study, and four months of public consultation that ended in November, environment officials are still no nearer to hammering out a clear road map on how...
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New research by HKUST reveals that most of the most polluted roads are not covered by the government’s measuring stations. Eight roads had NO2 levels of up to 300 micrograms per cubic metre, catergorised as “very high” on the government scale. “These findings mean Kwun Tong, Hung Hom, Wan Chai, Kwai Chung and Eastern district...
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Frederik Balfour Bloomberg Donald Tsang will debate with Audrey Eu on changes to HK’s electoral system in 2012 on TV in a bid to salvage his reputation with the central government in Beijing. Pro-democracy groups in Hong Kong say that the proposed 2012 package does not go far enough to deliver power into the hands of the...
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Following is a question by the Hon Lee Wing-tat and a written reply by the Acting Secretary for the Environment, Dr Kitty Poon, at the Legislative Council meeting today (June 9): Question: Regarding emissions from franchised buses, will the Government inform this Council: (a) whether it knows the respective numbers of pre-Euro, Euro I, Euro II, Euro...
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