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?