The air quality of Hong Kong (HK), especially at the street level, has
been a matter of grave public concern. In 2007, road transport was reportedly the
major source for emission of carbon monoxide (CO) and respirable suspended
particulates (RSP), as well as the second largest source for emission of nitrogen
oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC). The Government has
taken various measures to curb roadside pollution. Recent technological
breakthroughs in electric vehicles (EVs) have regenerated the Government's
interest in promoting the wider use ofEVs. The main objectives ofthis paper are
to examine whether road transport-related measures adopted by the Government
have been effective in coping with the air pollution problem and whether the EV
policy would improve the air quality ofHK.
The Government has taken a more proactive approach, since 1999, in
dealing with roadside pollution problems. The emission of all major air
pollutants from road transport against the continuous growth in the numbers of
vehicles and vehicle kilometers travelled reduced significantly between 1994 and
2007. The reduction of S02, RSP and CO in this time period was 95%, 70% and
59% respectively. Nonetheless, air pollution in HK remams an unresolved
problem as reflected by continuous rising trends in the hours with poor visibility,
days with roadside Air Pollution Index exceeding 100, and concentration of some
air pollutants exceeding the Air Quality Objectives.
EVs have zero tailpipe emission but its potential in improving the air
quality has been skeptical because part of the emission may be transferred to the
power plants. Through quantitative analysis, it was found that if all vehicles in
HK were converted to EVs, the overall emission of NOx, RSP, CO and VOC
would reduce by 77.3%, 89.9%, 99.4% and 99.4% respectively but that of S02
would suffer a regrettable 13.5-fold increase. It was concluded that the wider use
of EVs should be beneficial to the air quality of HK but the potential benefits
would depend on the number of vehicles to be converted and simultaneous
measures to cut S02 emission at the power sources.
A qualitative analysis was made on factors affecting the change of
vehicles to EVs. It was found that consumer decisions on EV purchases are likely
influenced by availability, choice of models, driving range, reliability, whole life
costing, and adequacy of infra structural support. The use of greener fuel and
surplus electricity generation capacity as a means to reduce emissions from power
plants were also explored. The paper concludes by making recommendations to
encourage use of EVs and to maximize its potential benefits. It is expected that
the Goverrunent will play an important role in implementing EV-related policies
and prioritizing measures to reap immediate benefits. / published_or_final_version / Transport Policy and Planning / Master / Master of Arts in Transport Policy and Planning
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:HKU/oai:hub.hku.hk:10722/167196 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Kwan, Wah-sang, Terrace., 關華生. |
| Publisher | The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) |
| Source Sets | Hong Kong University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | PG_Thesis |
| Source | http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B48187677 |
| Rights | The author retains all proprietary rights, (such as patent rights) and the right to use in future works., Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License |
| Relation | HKU Theses Online (HKUTO) |
Page generated in 0.0012 seconds