Should a wind farm be built off Sai Kung?
Recent correspondents have questioned whether the hefty cost of setting up a wind farm in Hong Kong would be worth it. True, these plans do not come cheap.
However, the alternatives are even more expensive, in several ways.
It is an unfortunate fact that the production of much energy on the mainland, mostly from fossil fuels, seriously degrades the environment. Clouds of pollution generated by mainland factories too often obscure the skies, including those over Hong Kong.
And then there is the human cost, not the least being the ill health caused to many in the region by breathing polluted air. Even more costly is the reckoning of the early deaths of Chinese miners.
Wind power, wave power and solar power could, and should, all be developed swiftly on the mainland, to limit the pollution caused by existing energy-production methods. The lives of thousands of Chinese people would be saved, as well.