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The Air Pollution Control (Motor Vehicle Fuel) (Amendment) Regulation 2009 is gazetted today (November 20).
A spokesman for the Environmental Protection Department said that the Amendment Regulation seeks to provide a statutory framework to ensure motor vehicle biodiesel meets the necessary standards.
Biodiesel is a form of renewable energy. It can be used to power motor vehicles in pure form or in blends with motor vehicle diesel.
To boost consumer confidence in the fuel and prevent excessive exhaust emissions due to poor biodiesel quality, it is a common practice to require motor vehicle biodiesel to follow certain international standards, such as EN14214.
The Amendment Regulation mandates the specification of biodiesel for use as motor vehicle fuel. It also requires labels to be posted at the selling points if the biodiesel content in motor vehicle fuel exceeds 5%.
"Vehicle manufacturers generally accept the use of motor vehicle diesel containing up to 5% biodiesel to power their vehicles. A higher biodiesel content may cause incompatibility problems for certain vehicle models. The labelling requirement, which is also being practised in the EU and US, is to alert drivers to the potential incompatibility problem of some vehicles," the EPD spokesman said.
"The wider use of biodiesel in lieu of fossil diesel, which is non-renewable, is conducive to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and arresting global climate changes due to the rising greenhouse gas level," he added.
The Amendment Regulation will be tabled at the Legislative Council for negative vetting on November 25. Subject to the approval of the Council, the amendments will take effect on July 1, 2010.
Ends/Friday, November 20, 2009
Issued at HKT 14:32
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