Finally Cutting Power Usage

Large Hong Kong developers have pledged to cut power consumption by 5%

Finally the government is getting large developers to cut their electricity consumption by 5 percent in the five years (actually three) leading to 2020.

Reducing about 230 million kilowatt-hours is equal to the power consumption of 47,000 homes in a year, or 210 times the annual amount of electricity generated by Siu Ho Wan Solar Farm.

At least 40 developers have signed onto the scheme with the government, including Cheung Kong, New World, Link Reit and MTR Corp.

Cheung Kong has signed up on the energy-saving initiative

Undersecretary for Environment Christine Loh Kung-wai said this initiative was a way to honour the spirit of the Paris agreement [to make changes through negotiation].

"Developers are now willing to go beyond compliance. Our partnership with the developers will also become a platform for further policy changes and tightening standards," she said.

Official data shows commercial buildings owned by these developers used one-third of the total electricity used by all commercial buildings in the city, while the commercial sector accounted for 20 percent of the total electricity consumed in Hong Kong.

All buildings in the city use 90 percent of the city's total electricity consumption and more than 60 percent of carbon emissions.

It'll be interesting to see what measures these developers will take to reduce the amount of electricity used. Will they finally get shopping malls to not have their air conditioners so cold, as well as restaurants? And how about finally getting malls like The One to stop blasting cold air into the atmosphere, forcing the air conditioners to work even harder?

Will this finally mean no more blasting air con at The One?

It's not about the money -- it's about conserving the environment.

And 5 percent? That's nothing to these companies -- no wonder as Loh says, they are willing to go beyond compliance. Just turning off a few more lights at night would already meet the requirements. Why not 10 or 15 percent? Why can't we try to work harder on this?

The government should not allow these developers to laugh at these targets. Energy consumption in Hong Kong needs to drop by a lot. We can't be wasting energy for no good reason. Perhaps now would be a good time to significantly decrease the amount of light pollution too.

Any volunteers?

Incompetent Leadership

Chi Tak Public School in Wong Tai Sin has been left vacant for years

Ah, the incompetency of the Hong Kong government continues.

People are complaining about how buying a flat is out of the reach of many young people, and so the government has suggested perhaps it's time to develop currently forested areas in the New Territories that are supposed to be protected.

Many disagree, while others, out of greed or necessity back the idea.

However, an audit report has found of the 234 vacated schools listed in the Education Bureau's system that was set up in 2005, 105 of them continue to be unused, and another 14 weren't even registered.

Also around 80 percent of the 234 schools are primary schools.

"This is an obvious serious breach of duty on the government's part. They always say Hong Kong has a shortage of land... yet what they are doing is wasting precious public resources," said Democratic Party chief executive Lam Cheuk-ting, who has been advocating for re-purposing empty school sites.

Either these sites should be reopened because there are so many mainland Chinese students coming putting pressure on schools by the border, or they should be redeveloped for possible low-income housing.

The government doesn't do enough to tackle food waste

Why is the government letting these places be neglected? The audit report was also not impressed at how the authorities were keeping track of the vacant schools, and recommended the vacant ones be used as soon as possible.

And then the Environment Bureau has had its knuckles rapped by government auditors, who said the bureau hasn't done enough to deal with food waste in a timely manner, not is it accurate in projecting into the future. Sounds like Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah has the same problem...

Food waste has actually risen 13 percent in the past decade and the government is inching its way towards charging for waste disposal, eight years behind the original target.

Talk about major procrastination!

The bureau was also criticized for overstating how much a food waste treatment pilot plant in Kowloon Bay could process, and significantly underestimating how much the first phase of an organic waste treatment facility on Lantau Island would cost.

As a result the delays have just literally added more garbage in the city's landfills.

Interestingly the Correction Services Department and Hospital Authority have the highest amounts of food waste, more than the city's per capita average. The amount of food waste in prisons ranged from 0.02kg to 1.61kg per day, and at hospitals it was 0.06kg to 0.58kg daily.

Undersecretary for the Environment Christine Loh

In 2013, Hong Kong generated 5.49 million tonnes of solid waste, of which two-thirds went to municipal landfills, the rest to recycling. About 25 percent of all solid waste is food waste.

Say... isn't Christine Loh Kung-wai the Undersecretary for the Environment? When she set up Civic Exchange in 2000, the think tank held the government accountable for its actions (or lack of) with regards to the environment...

The government's lack of action on these two important areas just illustrates its incompetency, that it really has no idea what it should be doing, or that it doesn't care.

It obviously is not serving Hong Kong people, which is what we are paying it to do. It's not that the government lacks money or access to intelligent experts. It just seems to refuse to do what is best for the city and its residents.

Which is why people feel the government is acting more in the interests of Beijing than Hong Kong...

Hong Kong's Polluted Air Persists

Hong Kong's air quality can go to extremes like these pictures show...

Well what do you know! Us living in Hong Kong are breathing in air that exceeds the World Health Organization's standards for over 280 days last year.

The black spots are Des Voeux Road in Central and Hennessy Road in Causeway Bay.

"The overall picture is worse than we thought," said Simon Ng Ka-wing, chief research officer at Civic Exchange, a think tank that worked with the University of Science and Technology on the research.

"Our government must make it a policy priority to improve roadside air quality in major urban street canyons."

It's interesting Civic Exchange says this when its founder Christine Loh Kung-wai is the Under Secretary for Environment...

The WHO daily air quality guideline says PM2.5 should not exceed 25 micrograms per cubic metre. But in the Hong Kong study conducted between March last year and February this year, Central and Causeway Bay exceeded the standard by almost 280 days of the year.

In districts like Western, Admiralty and most of Wan Chai, the air quality standard was surpassed by over 200 days, while it was 150 days in North Point.

Des Voeux Road in Central was the most polluted at an average of 55 micrograms per cubic metre -- far exceeding the WHO guideline of 10 and the local guideline of 35.

It was followed by Hennessy Road, between Tonnochy Road and Yee Wo Street in Causeway Bay, and King's Road in North Poing.

Professor Jimmy Fung, head of HKUST's division of environment, said areas with good ventilation and lower buildings helped disperse pollution.

He said the government should devise a long-term strategy to improve wind and air dispersion in urban street canyons through new developments and urban redevelopment opportunities, as well as policies to decrease traffic emissions.

Ng says hundreds of thousands are exposed to roadside pollution on a daily basis, and a recent University of Hong Kong study says a high PM2.5 concentration led to a higher death rate among the elderly by increasing their risk of developing cardiovascular problems.

It's shocking to find the PM2.5 levels were so high considering over two months in that study period the Occupy Movement shut down major thoroughfares and supposedly decreased air pollution... or so we thought.

In the meantime, Fung says the government should consider pedestrianization schemes and low-emission zones in locations where roadside air quality is really bad.

But will the government earnestly try to do something about this? With the task of trying to sell the electoral reform package to the people, air quality probably doesn't have as high a priority...

Think Tanked-Out

A new think tank to help Hong Kong thanks to Tung Chee-hwa

In 2000 then former Legislative Councillor Christine Loh Kung-wai left politics and set up Civic Exchange, a think tank that focuses on public policy with regards to social development, the environment and economic analysis.

Then in April 2013, former Chief Secretary Anson Chan Fong On-sang set up Hong Kong 2020 to monitor constitutional reform progress to achieve universal suffrage to vote for the chief executive by 2017, and all members of the Legislative Council by 2020.

And now earlier this week former Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa set up Our Hong Kong Foundation to improve Hong Kong's standing in the Happy Planet Index, conduct research to improve people's lives, and provide facilities for new leisure activities.

Allan Zeman is part of Our Hong Kong Foundation

Tung is particularly concerned about the Umbrella Movement protests and yesterday gathered over 70 directors for a two-hour meeting.

While we know Grandpa Tung has good intentions, can we point out a few of the people attached to this foundation?

They are: former financial secretary Antony Leung Kam-chung, former Monetary Authority chief executive Joseph Yam Chi-kwong, Shun Tak managing director Pansy Ho Chiu-king, former Ocean Park CEO Allan Zeman and former chief justice Ti-Liang Yang.

The only person with a democratic background is Tik Chi-yuen.

Can we just stop here and observe that most of these people are tycoons and are certainly looking out for their own interests and not necessarily concerned about seriously engaging the protesters, most of whom are students.

Irons Sze says there should be more talks with young people

Leung remarked he was concerned about Hong Kong's economy if the protests continue to drag on. "I am worried it will also seriously affect the rule of law, which is a core value for the city's role as a financial centre," he said.

This is coming from the senior official who bought a luxury car shortly before announcing a proposal to sharply increase taxes on new cars...

And then Zeman mustered up this comment: "The most important thing is that we find the way that we can have harmony with the students and everyone can get back to the way Hong Kong was."

Zeman used to read trends and people well, but now he's completely lost touch with this statement. After these protests, Hong Kong will never be the same again. People have been greatly affected by the movement that was sparked by the police unleashing tear gas 87 times and resulted in the continued occupation of Causeway Bay, Admiralty and Mongkok. They have seen people's passion in their sacrifices in the hopes for universal suffrage.

How can he even begin to assume Hong Kong can be back to what it was before? That's what people don't want! They are trying to change things for the better.

So Tung's cozy club of some 70 people sounds very similar to those who visited Beijing over a month ago -- the uber rich who live in their own bubble. Irons Sze Wing-wai says it best. As Chinese Manufacturers' Association president, he suggested perhaps the think tank could work on improving communication with young people...

We wonder what that will entail...

Potentially Deadly Air

A picture of smog from March 2010 and clear skies in June later that year

Now we know the air in Hong Kong is bad -- not as bad as China -- but pretty bad relative to the United States.

Scientists who have studied air samples around China and Hong Kong have found 10 to 20 times more fine metallic particles than the US.

While Hong Kong's PM2.5 levels are lower than most cities on the mainland, it has a higher concentration of health-threatening trace metals. These include zinc and chromium that can cause a range of problems from premature aging to cancer.

Higher concentrations of airborne trace metals can even damage human DNA, thus endangering the genetics in future generations.

The scientists say that without greater environmental regulations, high trace metal levels could become a public health crisis.

Li Weijun, a professor of environmental science at Shandong University has studied nearly every part of China, from the grasslands of Inner Mongolia to Hong Kong's Victoria Peak, collecting samples and examining them. They probably have one of the largest data banks of airborne particles in China.

"Damage to health caused by fine particles is not only determined by the quantity of particles, but also what type they are," he said. "Trace metals are the nastiest things in the air that can damage your health."

With regards to Hong Kong, the PM2.5 pollution, Li believes it could have come from power plants and factories in the Pearl River Delta.

"As long as you have a large number of factories in your neighbourhood, you will have the problem. But even the most advanced technology cannot remove these extremely small particles," he said.

Li published a research paper in the academic journal Environmental Science and Technology last year. In it, his team found 105 micrograms of iron per litre of water in cloud on Mount Tai in Shandong province and 90mcg on Mount Lu in Jiangxi province. At Mount Elden in Arizona, the reading was only 5.6mcg.

In terms of zinc concentrations, 200-250mcg were found on the two Chinese mountains, and none on Mount Elden.

The other metals or hazardous elements in China's air include copper, magnesium, lithium, nickel, cobalt, arsenic and selenium. When mixed with water, zinc can enter human cells via the bloodstream or tissue.

Through oxygen, zinc can damage the structure of DNA in cells and this is irreversible.

Is this not shocking enough for anyone living in China and Asia?

In Hong Kong we always knew the "fog" was smog and then chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said there was nothing we could do about the air pollution across the border.

But now we know what we're breathing in is potentially dangerous, particularly for babies and young children.

What is the Hong Kong government going to do about this now? The onus is now in Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing and the under secretary Christine Loh Kung-wai to really do something about the air quality here.

Top expats are leaving the city in search of cities with cleaner air for themselves and their families because it's priceless.

We thank Li for this report as it confirms what we already know, but in much greater and scarier detail.

He must also be praised for his extensive research. It wouldn't be surprising to hear if the Chinese government tried to bar him from publishing this work because of its explosive consequences.

Mainlanders are already wary of air quality in China and this report gives further evidence that the country has sacrificed the environment and its people for GDP growth.

We need more people like Li to shake things up and make governments realize that change needs to start now.

Cleaner Air in Five Years?

Christine Loh is pushing for Hong Kong to clean up its air... will it clear up?

Undersecretary for the Environment Christine Loh Kung-wai believes we'll be seeing a dramatic improvement in Hong Kong's air quality in the next five years with measurable results starting in the second half of this year.

That's because objectives set out in last year's air quality road map have been met with little political resistance compared to other environmental issues like waste, energy and conservation.

One of them is a HK$11.4 billion initiative to replace 82,000 old commercial diesel vehicles starting from next month. Another is to replace catalytic converters, devices that reduce harmful emissions, on 20,000 light buses and taxis powered by LPG.

This initiative is expected to be approved by the summer, while another plan to retrofit 1,400 franchised buses with selective catalytic reduction devices is projected to be also approved this summer.

She explained that currently the biggest emissions in Hong Kong is sulphur dioxide and so in addition to the streets, the city is pushing to legislate all ocean-going vessels berthing in Hong Kong must use low-sulphur fuel; this is expected to happen in the summer and take effect early next year.

In 2012, a study found 75 percent of deaths linked to sulphur dioxide in the Pearl River Delta each year were Hong Kong people.

Also, smaller ships will be required to switch to cleaner marine diesel, a plan she hopes to get started on from April 1.

"We think, after the implementation of both measures, we will see an estimated 20 percent drop in local sulphur dioxide emissions. This is really quite substantial," she says.

However she stresses it's important for the community to be "galvanized" for all the measures to succeed, and that while government should take the lead, corporations and people should do more to make their own contribution to help clear the air.

This can be difficult when more of the wealthy buy cars and hire chauffeurs to drive them; the rest of us can't even afford private cars, but still appreciate the pretty efficient public transportation system we have here.

There are still cars idling when they could be turned off and not enough legal enforcement in this area, and there needs to be a serious discussion about streamlining bus routes even further.

But in the end, are we really going to see such a dramatic improvement in the next few months?

We're optimistic, but not holding our breath. The main issue is getting people to understand this is the one world we live in and we are polluting it more and more each day. All the money in the world will not scrub the environment clean in an instant; we need to do our part, from walking more to using cleaner technology to help everyone breathe a bit easier.