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Following is a question by the Hon Andrew Leung and a reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, in the Legislative Council meeting today (July 5) :
Question:
In connection with environmentally friendly fuel for vehicles and the introduction of electric-petroleum hybrid saloon cars ("hybrid saloons") by the Government, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the latest progress of the commissioning test and the preliminary data on repair and maintenance and operational efficiency of hybrid saloons;
(b) as motor car dealers have received an increasing number of enquiries about hybrid saloons over the past year, and various brands of hybrid saloons are available in the market for the public to choose from, whether the Government has any plans to introduce policies or measures as soon as possible to encourage the public to use this type of environmentally friendly vehicles; and
(c) whether it will introduce new policies such as permitting the use of such environmentally-friendly alternative fuels as ethanol gasoline on motor vehicles and exempting them from motor spirit duty, in order to encourage oil companies to introduce environmentally-friendly fuels so that environmentally conscious drivers will have another option?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The Government has bought five electric-petroleum hybrid saloons for a two-year trial run, starting April 2005, to ascertain if it is appropriate to deploy hybrid vehicles in the Government's vehicular fleet. The trial is still in process and data obtained in the first year revealed that these hybrid saloons can meet day-to-day transportation needs. The fuel consumption is about 40% less than that for small petrol saloons. The repair and maintenance costs are more or less the same as petrol cars. The Government will collect more data for further analysis as the trial continues.
(b) The Government has been monitoring the supply of hybrid vehicles in the market from the trade and notes that there are four models available in the local market, most of which are introduced by parallel importers. The Government will actively consider and analyse the costs and benefits of procuring hybrid vehicles for the Government fleet and encouraging their use by the community, when they are proven to be cost-effective. We will closely monitor the market conditions with a view to formulating appropriate policy to encourage the use of hybrid vehicles.
(c) To control emission, petrol vehicles for sale in Hong Kong have to be installed with three-way catalytic converters since 1992. At the same time, petrol sold in Hong Kong already meets Euro IV standard. Therefore, promoting the use of ethanol gasoline for petrol vehicles will not substantively help improve Hong Kong's roadside air quality.
Ethanol derived from plants such as sugar cane is considered a kind of renewable energy. The greatest advantage of using it as motor fuel is to lessen our reliance on fossil fuels and reduce the global emission of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas. Hence, the Government has already allowed petrol to contain 5% of ethanol under the Air Pollution Control (Motor Vehicle Fuel) Regulation. The Government will continue to closely monitor the technological development of environmental fuels such as ethanol gasoline. If they are found to be suitable for use in Hong Kong, we will consider introducing appropriate measures including tax concessions to promote and encourage their use.
Ends/Wednesday, July 5, 2006
Issued at HKT 14:30
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