Group says 'business as usual' approach not enough and urges greater use of renewables
ERNEST KAOernest.kao@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 04 November, 2015, 12:00am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 04 November, 2015, 12:00am
Hong Kong's 20-year supply contract with the Daya Bay nuclear power plant in Guangdong ends in 2034. Photo: AP
Hong Kong should get rid of nuclear power in its energy mix as part of a long-term strategy not only to make the city safer but to help reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, an environmental group says.
By halting nuclear energy imports after the 20-year supply contract with the Daya Bay plant ends in 2034, along with reducing electricity use by one per cent each year and boosting renewable energy use to 10 per cent, Greenpeace calculated an emissions cut of 34 per cent could be achievable.
The government set a target in 2010 to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions by between 19 and 33 per cent by 2020 based on the 2005 level of 41 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. It also flirted with the idea of increasing nuclear power in the city's energy mix to 50 per cent, until the Fukushima disaster happened in Japan.
But Greenpeace senior campaigner Frances Yeung Hoi-shan said the government needed a more aggressive scheme to cut emissions and not simply a "business as usual" approach, since the current arrangement and energy mix would lead to a minimal reduction in emissions of 31 per cent by 2034.
Earlier this year, the government announced that half of its power needs after 2020 would come from locally generated natural gas, an unchanged 25 per cent from nuclear power and the rest from coal until coal plants are gradually retired. There is no target or policy for renewable energy use.
It is not known if the government will buy nuclear energy from mainland plants after 2034. Daya Bay will have reached the end of the average lifespan of a nuclear plant by then.
"It has been calculated recently that the current proposals put forth by countries to reduce emissions will not amount to the two degrees [Celsius] required to stave off the most serious effects of global warming," said Yeung.
Yeung said although Hong Kong was not a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, it generated high emissions per capita for a small city and would have to "take responsibility for its actions".
The city's total greenhouse gas emissions rose for the second year in a row in 2012, amounting to some 43 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, or roughly six tonnes per person in the year.
She urged the government to put greater effort into promoting energy efficiency, especially in non-new buildings, and to put together some sort of renewable energy policy that can provide incentives for its use.
Environment secretary Wong Kam-sing said his bureau would be submitting an analysis of its public consultation results on the development of the electricity market to the Legislative Council economic development panel by the end of the year.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1875380/hong-kong-should-end-nuclear-energy-imports-after
