Letters | Hong Kong’s zero-carbon strategy must be powered by green hydrogen and mandatory measures

Name: Hong Kong could slash carbon emissions 70% with more ambitious goals, says former observatory head
Uploaded: 2020-12-12T23:45:22.000Z
Duration: 4 min 56 s
Description: Hong Kong could slash carbon emissions 70% with more ambitious goals, says former observatory head

To achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, Hong Kong must deploy stricter, mandatory targets instead of relying on voluntary schemes and consider developing renewable energy sources beyond our usual conservative mindset

Reading Time:2 minutes

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A hydrogen fuel pump fills a hydrogen-powered car at Royal Dutch Shell’s first British hydrogen refuelling station in Cobham in February 2017. The use of “green hydrogen” is one option for Hong Kong to meet its ambitious goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. Photo: Bloomberg

Letters

Published: 7:45am, 13 Dec 2020Updated: 7:45am, 13 Dec 2020

China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, pledged in September to reach carbon neutrality before 2060. Last month, the Council for Sustainable Development recommended a 2050 carbon neutrality goal for Hong Kong.

In the wake of these two important announcements, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced in her 2020 policy address that Hong Kong would strive to reach carbon neutrality before 2050.

Power generation and transport together account for 83 per cent of the city’s carbon emissions. Consideration should be given to mandating carbon emission reduction targets with a timeline working backwards from 2050 for major businesses, including power generation, property development and transport.

The administration needs to deploy mandatory measures instead of the usual mild approach via voluntary schemes. Take the Building Energy Efficiency Ordinance as an example. It requires new buildings to meet the statutory standards while more than 42,000 existing buildings are exempted if they avoid undertaking major retrofitting works.

Revising the ordinance to regulate all buildings is essential. As buildings account for 90 per cent of the city’s total electricity consumption, promoting energy conservation among all tenants is arguably as important as setting stringent standards and upgrading them regularly.

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Hong Kong could slash carbon emissions 70% with more ambitious goals, says former observatory head

In renewable energy development, Hong Kong lags far behind mainland China and many other economies. Besides solar and wind technologies, investment in emerging green technology using hydrogen to decarbonise transport, power generation and manufacturing is expected to be embraced by businesses worldwide.

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.css-sioo19{color:#c79a00;}Letters | Hong Kong’s zero-carbon strategy must be powered by green hydrogen and mandatory measures

Letters | Hong Kong’s zero-carbon strategy must be powered by green hydrogen and mandatory measures