Greener buses to help clear the air

Greener buses to help clear the air

HK$600m for improvement [imˈpru:vmənt](改善) of roadside air quality(路边空气质量)

Chief Executive(香港特首) Donald Tsang(曾阴权) pledged(承诺) Wednesday that the government would spend HK$600 million to help improve the city's air quality.

The promises, made during his delivery of the 2010-11 Policy Address(2010-11年政策工作报告), paid special attention to the high levels of pollution [pəˈluʃən](污染) found at roadside levels. Tsang said that franchised bus companies(特许经营巴士公司) in particular will have cut back their emissions(废气).

Believed to be one of the major causes of high levels of roadside air pollution, some 3,900 buses are going to be retrofitted(改进) with catalytic [ˌkætəˈlitik]reduction devices(催化减低设备) to bring them up to date with Euro IV(欧四标准), a lower nitrogen [ˈnaitrədʒən]() oxide [ˈɔksaid] emission standard(氮氧化物排放标准). The 3,900 vehicles currently run at Euro II(欧二标准) and Euro III(欧三标准) standards.

And the retrofit - which will cost HK$150,000 for each bus - is to be funded by the government. However, subsequent [ˈsʌbsikwənt](后续的) operational and maintenance costs(后续的操作及维护成本) will have to be borne [bɔ:n, bəʊrn](承担) by the individual bus companies.

Busy districts such as Causeway Bay, Central and Mong Kok (旺角)will also soon be declared as pilot low-emission zones(低排放试点区). Only 10 percent of a total of 2,400 franchised buses running in the designated pilot areas(设定的试点区域) meet the Euro IV standard(欧五标准).

The government aims to increase the number of low-emission Euro IV standard buses to 25 percent of total the next year. It will continue to increase the numbers until it reaches 100 percent in 2015. The goverment predicts(预测) that the measures will help reduce roadside air pollution by 14 percent and the amount of nitrogen dioxide by 26 percent.

"Low-emission buses running through the pilot low-emission zones cover a large area of the SAR(香港特别行政区), so the pilot scheme(试点计划) will also be able to benefit much of the city as well," a government spokesman said Wednesday.

"We certainly welcome greener franchised buses," said Koo Wai-muk, a campaigner(活动人士) with environmental organization Greenpeace(绿色环保组织). "However, I am worried that there will be a corresponding [ˌkɔrisˈpɔndiŋ，ˌkɒrəˈspɒndɪŋ](相应的) increase in bus fares(费用)", adding that the government should monitor and set ticket prices.

For William Yu, head of the climate program at the World Wild life Fund(世界野生动物基金会) Hong Kong, however, an increase in bus fares may well be inevitable [inˈevitəbl](不明智的). However, "the social cost of air pollution" as well as "the health costs on citizens" should also be taken into consideration(考虑).

Finally, the government plans to fully fund the cost of procuring(获得) six "green" hybrid [ˈhaibrid](混合动力车) buses - each at a cost of HK$5 million - for use by the franchised bus companies to test their operational efficiency(运行效率). It hopes to replace the diesel [ˈdi:zəl](菜油) buses that are currently being operated on a largescale(大量的) within a short period of time.

To combat [ˈkɔmbət](应对)climate change, the SAR's emission reduction strategy is emphasizing the wider use of cleaner and low-carbon(低碳) energies and fuels in power generation. It also expects carbon intensity [inˈtensiti](强度)in Hong Kong to be reduced by 50 to 60 percent by 2020, compared with 2005 levels