Hong Kong’s power plants facing 40 per cent emissions cut as city targets future built on natural gas
- Government proposes tightening of caps in electricity sector targeting three major pollutants
- Plan to be discussed by lawmakers at environmental affairs panel next week
Emission caps for Hong Kong’s power plants could be cut by as much as 40 per cent after 2024 when officials hope to generate more than half the city’s energy with natural gas to improve air quality.
The government has proposed to tighten caps in the electricity sector for three main sources of air pollutants – sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx) and respirable suspended particles (RSP).
The new targets would tighten emissions by 40 per cent, 29 per cent and 20 per cent (of SO2, NOx, RSP) respectively compared to allowances given for 2020, according to the eighth technical memorandum set between the city’s two power companies and the government.
This means annual emissions targets would be slashed to 3,150 tonnes of SO2, 12,430 tonnes of NOx and 391 tonnes of RSP after 2024.
The proposal, submitted to the Legislative Council on Wednesday, will be discussed by lawmakers during a panel on environmental affairs next Tuesday.
“The reduction will help improve air quality, given that emissions from the electricity sector account for 43 per cent, 27 per cent and 16 per cent [SO2, NOx, RSP] respectively of the territory-wide emissions of these pollutants in 2017,” the Environmental Protection Department said in the document.
