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    Following is a question by the Hon Albert Cheng and an oral reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, in the Legislative Council meeting today (March 2):

Question:

    To improve air quality in Hong Kong, the Government has introduced liquefied petroleum gas ("LPG") as fuel for vehicles for a number of years.  However, the use of LPG vehicles is not popular and government's vehicle fleet does not use LPG vehicles.  LPG taxis often have to take a long time, sometimes up to an hour, waiting at LPG filling stations for gas refilling.  The inadequacy of ancillary facilities for LPG vehicles has also discouraged vehicle owners who wish to switch to LPG vehicles from doing so.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)  how the ratio between LPG vehicles and LPG filling stations compares to that between petrol and diesel vehicles and petrol filling stations, as well as the number of additional LPG filling stations planned and the timetable for providing them;

(b)  whether the use of LPG as fuel for vehicles is more environmentally friendly and more cost-effective; and

(c)  whether the authorities will, in addition to subsidising taxi and light bus owners who use LPG vehicles, organise promotional and educational activities as well as offer concessions in duty or other subsidies to attract more vehicle owners to switch to using LPG vehicles; and whether the Administration will take the lead in replacing all vehicles in its fleet with LPG vehicles?

Reply:

Madam President,

    Compared with diesel vehicles, liquefied petroleum gas ("LPG") vehicles emit virtually no smoke and hardly any particulates. Their nitrogen oxide emission level is only 30% of that of diesel vehicles.  As far as air pollution is concerned, the switch from diesel vehicles to LPG ones will certainly help improve the air quality of Hong Kong.  However, as the emission levels of LPG vehicles and petrol vehicles meeting the Euro III standards or above are more or less the same and neither emit any smoke, the switch from petrol vehicles to LPG ones is not expected to result in a substantial improvement in air quality. Therefore, the strategy of the Government is to first encourage the replacement of the highly polluting diesel vehicles with LPG ones.

    Apart from subsidising the owners of diesel taxis and light buses for switching to LPG vehicles, the Government has, through offering duty concession on environmental ground, exempted auto-LPG from duty in order to facilitate the introduction of LPG taxis and light buses.  Besides, the Government has taken the lead in purchasing LPG light buses to replace diesel ones since 2002.  Currently, 119 (or 35%) of the 339 light buses in the Government's vehicle fleet use LPG.  When the remaining diesel light buses are due for replacement, the Government will also replace them with LPG ones.

    At present, there are 50 LPG filling stations and 19 500 LPG vehicles in Hong Kong, including about 18 000 taxis and 1 500 light buses.  These figures translate into a ratio of one filling station to 390 LPG vehicles.  For diesel vehicles, there are 181 petrol filling stations in Hong Kong catering for a total of 127 000 diesel vehicles, representing a ratio of one filling station to 700 diesel vehicles.

    The Government is always on the look out for suitable sites for LPG filling stations for the convenience of LPG vehicle users.  Six LPG filling stations are being designed or constructed and scheduled for completion between mid-2005 and early 2006. Provided that the safety requirements are met, the Government will also require all newly-constructed petrol filling stations to provide LPG filling service through land lease conditions.

    Based on the current fuel costs, it is more cost-effective to use LPG than diesel as vehicle fuel.  The fuel cost per kilometre is about  $1.46 for a diesel light bus and about $1.0 for an LPG one, while the fuel cost per kilometre is $0.77 for a diesel taxi and about $0.37 for an LPG one.

    The Government has studied the feasibility of introducing other types of LPG vehicles to Hong Kong in order to reduce vehicle emissions.  We briefed the Panel on Environmental Affairs and the Panel on Transport of the Legislative Council on the findings of the study on February 6, 2003.  The study concluded that the availability of land in Hong Kong and safety considerations constrained the development of LPG filling stations and ancillary storage facilities and, as such, the LPG infrastructure could only support LPG taxis and light buses in Hong Kong.  It is not feasible to extend the use of LPG vehicles to other vehicle types at this stage.

Ends/Wednesday, March 2, 2005

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