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Following is a question by the Hon Jeffrey Lam and a reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, in the Legislative Council meeting today (January 31) :
Question:
The exhaust emissions from diesel private cars and alternative hydrogen-fuelled environmentally-friendly vehicles currently produced by various European automobile manufacturers are as low as those from petrol private cars. However, some car owners have indicated that the legislation governing the registration of diesel private cars is so stringent that the owners of such cars often have to convert the car compartments of these vehicles before they can be registered as vans. As a result, such environmentally-friendly vehicles are not popular in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has studied the difference between the quantity of air pollutants, such as respirable suspended particulates and nitrogen oxides, emitted from petrol and diesel private cars with the same horsepower; if it has, of the findings;
(b) whether it will consider lowering the current emission standards for registration of diesel private cars, so that such type of environmentally-friendly cars can be registered; and
(c) whether it has studied if the introduction of the above alternative hydrogen-fuelled environmentally-friendly vehicles will help reduce the exhaust emissions from vehicles in Hong Kong; if it has, of the findings of the study; if not, whether it will consider conducting such study?
Reply:
Madam President,
The emission control technologies in respect of particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) for petrol private cars are far better than their diesel counterparts. A comparison of Euro IV petrol and diesel private cars with equal cylinder capacity shows that, on average, diesel private cars emit 14 times more PM per km than their petrol counterparts. For NOx, diesel private cars' emissions are seven times greater than their petrol counterparts. Certain diesel vehicle even emit 25 times more NOx than their petrol counterparts.
The Government's principle and policy on the control of vehicle emissions are very clear. We focus on the actual environmental performance of vehicles, irrespective of whether they are diesel or petrol private cars. We require both types of private cars to meet equally stringent and practicable standards on PM and NOx.
In tandem with advanced countries, Hong Kong currently imposes the most stringent Euro IV emission standards on petrol private cars. The US Californian emission standards for diesel private cars are similar to the Euro IV emission standards for petrol private cars. Therefore, the former is currently adopted as the local emission standards for diesel private cars. Information shows that at present, there is no diesel private car that can comply with the Californian standards for diesel private cars. However, some European and Japanese motor manufacturers have planned to launch in California diesel private cars in compliance with the local standards, in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Whether these diesel vehicle models will be launched in Hong Kong will be a commercial decision for the vehicle suppliers. The Government believes that with the advances in emission control technology, diesel private cars will naturally become more readily available when their PM and NOx emission levels are generally reduced to a level at par with their petrol counterparts.
For goods vehicles, the load and operational requirements are different from those of private cars. There are not many models and makes of petrol goods vehicles to meet market needs, owing to the constraints in engine technology. Indeed, many goods vehicles are not available in petrol models. Therefore, we allow goods vehicles to run on diesel if they comply with the most stringent prevailing emission standard, i.e. Euro IV.
At present, the ambient PM and NOx concentrations in Hong Kong, particularly at the roadside, are still very high. Hence, the Government will not relax the emission standards for diesel private cars. We will continue to tighten vehicle emission standards in line with international levels.
The Environmental Protection Department has been monitoring closely technological developments on motor vehicles overseas. Current information indicates that the technology of using hydrogen as vehicle fuel is not yet mature. There are at present no internationally recognised standards to regulate the design and use of hydrogen-fuelled vehicles. Although hydrogen-fuelled vehicles have been produced by individual vehicle manufacturers, they have been used mainly for trial purposes to provide data for testing and improving the technology. We will continue to follow closely the technological development of hydrogen-fuelled vehicles, and will examine the feasibility of introducing them into Hong Kong when the technology becomes more mature.
Ends/Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Issued at HKT 14:26
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