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Following is a question by Hon Chan Hak-kan and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Edward Yau, in the Legislative Council today (October 21):
Question:
According to the figures released by the Census and Statistics Department, electricity consumption in Hong Kong, after deducting the amount of electricity exported to the Mainland, rose from about 130 675 terajoules in 2000 to 147 345 terajoules in 2008, representing an increase of about 13%. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has studied the reasons for the continuous increase in electricity consumption in Hong Kong over the past few years;
(b) of the projected electricity consumption in Hong Kong in the next five years, and the basis for the projection;
(c) of the specific measures to be implemented to encourage domestic households and commercial establishments respectively to reduce electricity consumption; and
(d) given that some political parties and environmental organisations have suggested the introduction of a "carbon bonus point" scheme whereby the amount of electricity saved will be converted to bonus points which can be used to exchange for government cash rebate or settle government fees, whether the authorities have studied such a scheme; whether they have discussed with the two power companies the feasibility of the scheme; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
(a) The trend of total electricity consumption is affected by a wide range of factors. The population of Hong Kong had increased from 6.71 million to almost 7 million and the number of local households had increased from 2.04 million to 2.28 million from 2000 to 2008. The accumulated growth in real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) amounts to 43% which reflected the increase in economic activities. All these factors have an impact on the electricity consumption.
(b) Growth of total electricity consumption in Hong Kong has been around 1.5% per annum on average in the past five years. Taking into account major socio-economic factors such as the projected growth in real GDP, the overall population and the number of local households, it is expected that total electricity consumption will broadly maintain its trend growth in the coming five years. The actual consumption level will also hinge on many other factors such as changes in climatic conditions, impact of energy efficiency measures promoted by the Government, further shift in electricity consumption behaviours and patterns amidst the growing awareness of environmental concerns; etc.
(c) The Government has been taking forward a series of initiatives to promote energy efficiency and conservation, including -
(i) to introduce a bill for the mandatory implementation of the Building Energy Codes to the Legislative Council in 2009, which regulates both commercial and residential buildings;
(ii) to continue the promotion of the building energy efficiency funding schemes under which building owners, including those of commercial and residential buildings, will be subsidized to carry out energy-cum-carbon audits and energy efficiency projects;
(iii) to implement the district cooling system at Kai Tak Development to provide energy-efficient air-conditioning services for public and private non-domestic developments (including commercial developments) in the region;
(iv) to fully implement the first phase of the Mandatory Energy Efficiency Labelling Scheme from November 9, 2009;
(v) to introduce the second phase of the Mandatory Energy Efficiency Labelling Scheme through legislative amendments; and
(vi) to promote the replacement of incandescent light bulbs by compact fluorescent lamps through various means. Moreover, we plan to consult the public on progressively restricting the sales of incandescent light bulbs.
(d) The promotion of electricity conservation involves the provision of financial incentives, the establishment of values on conservation and environmental protection, and the setting up of regulation where necessary. The Government has been taking forward a wide range of initiatives for this cause, details of which are set out in part (c) above. On the suggestion of providing incentives for personal activities, as it requires continuous monitoring and verification of personal activities which involves complicated administration and high administration cost, we have no plan at this stage to take the suggestion forward.
Ends/Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Issued at HKT 18:14
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