The Secretariat of the Green Tech Fund (GTF) said today (November 10) that the first batch of a total of seven projects has been approved in the second round of applications, involving a grant of around $27 million. The approved projects were submitted by local universities and designated public research institutes; and three local private companies. Together with the first round of applications, the GTF has so far approved 21 projects, involving a total grant of around $100 million.
 
     The GTF was open for the second round of applications from December 2021 to February 2022 with about 100 applications received. The seven research and development (R&D) projects approved in this batch cover topics including the promotion of new energy application, promotion of waste reduction by turning waste into resources and encouraging waste separation and recycling, and improving roadside air quality. They are:
 

• New energy technology: Development of a high-performance and cost-effective membrane electrode assembly for production of hydrogen that can facilitate the application of hydrogen energy.

 

• Turning waste into resources: Development of an intelligent energy storage system with retired electric vehicle batteries of different brands and a photovoltaics system which can help reduce waste by fully utilising retired electric vehicle batteries; transformation of recycled waste mud into low-carbon materials for land reclamation to help reduce the amount of waste mud disposal and the carbon emissions associated with reclamation works; utilising waste glass and waste tyres to develop low-carbon pavement systems technology to reduce reliance on conventional cement and asphalt which have higher carbon emissions for pavement materials; and manufacture of high-efficiency noise-absorbing materials from recycled plastics for use in different sectors such as buildings and machinery and equipment production, to promote the adoption of recycled plastics and tackle the noise problem.

 

• Promotion of waste separation and recycling: Development of a large scale reverse vending machine (RVM) for plastic beverage bottles to increase the accuracy and efficiency of the RVM in plastic bottle identification and processing.

 

• Improving roadside air quality: Development of an air cleaning system for roadside and semi-confined places. The system will utilise nanotechnology and high-efficiency particulate filters to remove various types of vehicular air pollutants.

 
     The list of the seven approved R&D projects is in the Annex. Relevant details are published on the GTF webpage (www.gtf.gov.hk/en/project_information/approved_projects.html). These projects will help promote R&D as well as application of green technologies in the areas of new energy application, turning waste into resources, waste separation and recycling, improvement of air quality, etc, thereby expediting the low-carbon transformation in Hong Kong in a bid to strive towards the goal of carbon neutrality.
 
     The GTF Secretariat will announce the vetting results of the remaining applications by batches and invite the third round of applications later this year. Details about the GTF are available on the GTF website (www.gtf.gov.hk).

Ends/Thursday, November 10, 2022
Issued at HKT 11:00

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