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Clean burning bio-diesel source under our noses

Feb 22nd, 2010
by AdminCTA.
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SCMP, Eric Ng, 2010-2-20

Every day hundreds of tonnes of waste cooking oil, grease and animal fat are discarded by Hong Kong’s 20,000-plus restaurants. The real waste is that it could be used as clean fuel in the city’s vehicles.

Some of the oil and fat is illegally smuggled to the mainland to be recycled as cooking oil, consumption of which is known to raise the risk of heart disease and cancer. But most of the material ends up in landfills.

Waste oil and fat can be processed into bio-diesel, a fuel that is cleaner burning than fossil fuel diesel, with no sulphur and much lower carbon gases and particulate emissions.

In Europe and the United States, government support has resulted in a vibrant bio-diesel industry, with most of the feedstock coming from plant oil, waste cooking oil and animal fat. But Hong Kong’s government is dragging its feet on similar measures, despite the fact bio-diesel could help improve the city’s dire air quality.

Germany requires diesel sold in the country to contain at least 4.4 per cent bio-diesel. In Spain, the ratio is 3.9 per cent and 7 per cent in France.

Other than a duty-free policy on bio-diesel and a new law passed last month stipulating the quality of bio-diesel, the Hong Kong government has yet to push through more aggressive policies to spur bio-diesel consumption.

The legislation, to take effect on July 1, requires bio-diesel sold on the market to comply with European EN 14214 standards. The statute aims to shore up consumer confidence and clamp down on illicit product.

But critics say more needs to be done by the government. One key measure needed is the mandatory blending of bio-diesel with fossil fuel diesel, something that has already been adopted in Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand. The government also needs to mandate the use of bio-diesel in its own fleet of vehicles.

Despite the lack of local government support, the allure of future profits has attracted investors to the nascent industry. Several bio-diesel plants have already been built.

The biggest drawcard is Hong Kong’s hefty tax on fossil fuel, a hands-off policy on fuel pricing and the duty exemption on bio-diesel. That leaves plenty of profit margin for the clean fuel’s producers, provided they can get sufficient feedstock and open up sales channels.

In many developing nations, government fuel price controls leave less room for profits from bio-diesel.

Sha Tin-based Dynamic Progress International was the first company in Hong Kong to set up a bio-diesel plant two years ago. The company, 51 per cent-owned by listed electronics products maker Alltronics Holdings, started operating its plant in the government-built waste recycling EcoPark in Tuen Mun in September 2007.

Alltronics chairman Lam Yin-kee said that the plant had the capacity to produce around 16,500 tonnes of bio-diesel a year, a fraction of the around 4.5 million tonnes of diesel fuel consumed in Hong Kong annually.

The company in 2008 counted Kwai Fong’s Metro Plaza shopping mall and New Town Plaza in Sha Tin among its first sources of waste cooking oil, and supplies bio-diesel to two construction firms.

Dynamic executive director Steve Choi declined to provide updates on the plant’s utilisation and sales figures, or its sources of material and clients. He said he did not want his rivals to know about his business secrets, but added that the government can do more to promote bio-diesel usage.

According to Alltronics’ financial statements, the bio-diesel plant’s sales amounted to HK$207,000 in 2008. In last year’s first-half, it recorded sales of HK$1.08 million and an operating loss of HK$5.41 million.

Choi said instead of going through the time-consuming legislation process, it would be more efficient for the government to use other methods to promote the industry. That could include giving fuel distributors that blend bio-diesel into their fossil fuel diesel higher priority in winning tenders to operate fuel stations.

“The government doesn’t need to do a lot, just administrative measures can do the trick … we don’t need legislation,” he said. “We have already waited six years for the bill on  <147,1,0>bio-diesel quality specification to go through the Legislative Council … how many decades are there in one’s lifetime?”

A spokeswoman for the Environmental Protection Bureau said blending more than 5 per cent of bio-diesel into fossil fuel diesel could result in “incompatibility problems” in car engine components.

“That is why we need time to develop a well balanced regulatory framework involving consultation with relevant stakeholders including bio-diesel suppliers, oil companies, vehicle suppliers and the transport trades as well as the environmental affairs panel of the Legislative Council,” she said.

The government was exploring ways to promote the use of bio-diesel in Hong Kong, she said, with the first step being to promote diesel containing up to 5 per cent bio-diesel in the government vehicle fleet.

“The EPD is consulting various departments on the compatibility of their fleet and plants/machines with [such diesel],” she added.

Andrew Kwan Ming-tak, chief executive of Champway Technology – Dynamic’s rival in the EcoPark – said the government’s classification of bio-diesel as a dangerous good had hampered its sales in the mass consumer market.

This means it can only be distributed in places that meet fire safety standards such as petrol stations, which require investment of over HK$100 million each to build.

Given Hong Kong’s vehicle fuel market is dominated by four big oil companies, and there is a lack of mandatory bio-diesel blending, there is little incentive for people to buy bio-diesel.

“While sales to large transportation companies with big fleets of vehicles are possible, since they buy diesel in bulk over long term contracts at hefty discounts from oil firms, it is difficult for small bio-diesel producers like us to compete on price,” Kwan said.

Champway hopes to obtain all of the more than 10 government licences and permits needed to start up its bio-diesel plant next month, with a goal to break even in three years. The project is partly backed by Goldsland Holdings, a unit of state-owned Guangdong Foreign Trade Group.

Champway plans to build a 29,200 tonne-a-year plant with an investment of over HK$50 million. Capacity can be expanded to 109,500 tonnes with an additional investment of around HK$100 million, Kwan added.

However, it expects to be able to collect only 20 to 30 tonnes of waste oil a day in the short term, around a third of the plant’s initial capacity. It faces keen competition from existing waste oil collectors, which offer to pay restaurants for their oil. Some of this oil is believed to be sold illegally to the mainland to be re-used in cooking.

Kwan suggested that the government designates waste cooking oil as specialised waste that needs to be collected or dumped by licensed operators, in order to eradicate illegal smuggling of waste cooking oil to the mainland. He also said the government could consider allowing restaurants to get reductions on their wastewater discharge fees, if they properly disposed of a certain amount of waste oil properly.

Both Dynamic and Champway will face competition from ASB Biodiesel (Hong Kong), majority owned by the Middle East’s Al Salam Bank-Bahrain and six strategic partners.

ASB expects to complete a 100,000 tonne-a-year bio-diesel plant in an 18,000 square metre site in Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate this year.

The project’s other shareholder is Hednesford, a Hong Kong company headed by Sjouke Postma, a Dutchman who has lived in Hong Kong for over 20 years and has worked on the project’s development for over a decade.

With an investment of US$100 million, the plant will use technology from Austria, which enables it to use multiple feedstocks, including waste cooking oil, grease trap waste, animal fat and palm fatty acid distillate.

Grease traps are plumbing devices that catch grease before kitchen waste water enters municipal sewage systems.

ASB chief executive Tom Uiterwaal said the plant’s output would be sold to both the European and Hong Kong markets.

The proportion of sales in the domestic market will depend on how soon the government implements a mandatory minimum bio-diesel blending policy, he said.

“In Hong Kong, a lot of roadside pollution comes from heavy commercial vehicles which can’t be solved by introducing electric cars. Bio-diesel is a solution to help solve Hong Kong’s air pollution problem.”

In Europe, bio-diesel consumption took off about five years ago due to the blending requirement. Consumption is projected to grow 14.3 per cent this year to 12 million tonnes.

Greens laud Lamma wind farm plan as breath of fresh air

Feb 5th, 2010
by AdminCTA.
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The single turbine wind plant on the Lamma Island since 2006.

The single turbine wind plant on the Lamma Island since 2006.

Hongkong Electric will today announce plans to develop an offshore wind farm close to Lamma Island and will forward an environmental impact assessment for public inspection.

The site chosen for the project is southwest of the island.

Last year, the government gave CLP Power the go-ahead for an offshore wind farm, which may become the largest in Asia. The CLP project, off the Ninepin Islands near Sai Kung, may produce about 1 percent of the territory’s electricity.

Greenpeace senior campaigner Gloria Chang Wan-ki said she is looking forward to receiving details of the Hongkong Electric project. “Greenpeace thinks renewable energy is definitely one way for us to reduce our dependence on fossil fuel and to reduce our carbon footprint. It is a good way to go in combating climate change,” Chang said.

She said it is “a good initiative” for both power companies to plan for wind farms.

However, the government still has not gone far enough to support renewable energy.

“On one hand we have a 1-2 percent renewable target by 2012, a voluntary target which is not legally binding to power companies,” she said.

On the other, electricity pricing also puts fossil fuel costs “unreasonably low,” making the market unfavorable to renewable energy.

She does not think Lamma residents will oppose the wind farm because Hongkong Electric has had a single turbine wind plant on the island since 2006.

“Based on the feedback from the single wind turbine on Lamma, residents there, I think, will welcome another project in their own backyard.”

But Chang said although her group supports wind energy in principle, “we need to take a careful look at the details and the environmental impact assessment.”

She added: “This project is much bigger than a single turbine, so we need to look at other environmental impacts, for example, that on the seabed, scenery and noise.”

Source: HK Standard

Impact on the environment of offshore wind farm

Jan 14th, 2010
by AdminCTA.
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CLP is intented to construct the largest offshore wind farm in the world in Hong Kong.

CLP is intented to construct the largest offshore wind farm in the world in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong (HKSAR) – Following is a question by Hon Mrs Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Edward Yau, in the Legislative Council today (January 13): I have learnt that CLP Power Hong Kong Limited (CLP) intends to construct the largest offshore wind farm in the world at about 10 kilometres east of Clearwater Bay, which will involve 67 wind turbines, each about 135 metres high.In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) given that the Chief Executive has announced in his 2009-2010 Policy Address that the Ministry of Land and Resources has given approval for Hong Kong Geopark to be listed as a national geopark, which involves eight sites, including the Northeast New Territories Sedimentary Rock Region and the Sai Kung Volcanic Rock Region; and it has been reported that the Hong Kong Government will inject resources to manage the geopark and, with reference to UNESCO’s guidelines and through the State, will apply to the relevant authority for listing the geopark asa world geopark; yet the said wind farm is only three kilometers away from the geopark, whether the Government has studied in-depth the feasibility of having the wind farm constructed at other locations so as to reduce the negative impact on natural scenery and the assessment on the world geopark application to be submitted;

(b) given that it has been reported that the wind farm will be located at the Sai Kung Caldera, which was formed 140 million years ago, and the construction site is also close to the hexagonal rock columns under the sea at Ninepin Group, whether the Government had fully considered the negative impact of the construction of the wind farm on such landscapes when approving the relevant environmental impact assessment report, and whether it had prudently examined comprehensive plans to reduce the impact on local residents and the natural ecological environment during the construction of the wind farm; if it had, of the details; and

(c) whether the Government has fully considered the negative impact of the noise and light pollution created during the operation of the wind farm on migratory birds and marine ecology, as well as the solutions; if it has, of the details?

Reply: President, (a) The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Hong Kong Offshore Wind Farm (HKOWF) conducted by CLP Power Hong Kong Limited (CLP) has taken into account the presence of the nearby Hong Kong Geopark (Geopark).According to the EIA report, given the location of the HKOWF, with mitigation measures in place and using the existing landforms as far as practicable to shield the wind farm turbines from view, landscape and visual impacts could be reduced. To further mitigate the landscape and visual impacts of HKOWF, the Environmental Permit stipulates that CLP shall submit the final layout of the wind farm turbines to the Director of Environmental Protection for approval.The final layout should demonstrate that it has minimised the footprint of the project among the possible alternative layouts, and maximised the distance of the turbines from Ninepin Group and Ung Kong Group. Although developing wind farms can achieve the renewable energy target, the Government will continue examining the potential impacts of HKOWF on seeking the Geopark to be listed as “global geopark”.The approval of the HKOWF EIA report reflects that the report fulfills the regulations and requirements laid down in the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (Cap. 499).However, construction works can commence only if it fulfills all relevant laws and obtains the necessary approvals. In accordance with the Scheme of Control Agreement, the HKOWF investment requires approval by the Government.By then the Government will consider the application from various aspects, including renewable energy policy, impact on electricity tariff, economic benefits, technical factors, site location etc..

(b) The proposed HKOWF is located approximately 9 km east of the Clearwater Bay peninsula and 5km east of South Ninepin Island, over 3km outside the boundary of the Geopark.The EIA report has recommended suction caissons as foundations of the wind farm turbines.The construction method does not require piling, dredging or drilling into the rock layer of seabed, hence it will not cause adverse impact to the seabed of Ninepin Group and the natural environment of the area.Since the selected HKOWF site is far away from residential areas, construction of the HKOWF also will not cause nuisance to the residents.

(c) The EIA study of HKOWF has considered in detail the impact on migratory birds and marine ecology due to sound and light generated during operation of HKOWF.The EIA report points out that the location of HKOWF is not within the travelling path of migratory birds.Operation of wind turbines will therefore not cause adverse impact to birds.Apart from this, the frequency of sound emitted by HKOWF is different from the range capable to be received by most birds; hence the birds will not be affected by the sound.Non-reflective paint will be applied to the mechanic parts of the wind farm turbines to reduce the impact of reflected sunlight to the birds. Regarding marine ecology, the EIA study identifies that in the vicinities of HKOWF, finless porpoises and green turtles are the species deserving more protection. However, the waters of HKOWF are not the main habitat of the finless porpoises and green turtles. It is expected that the sound and light generated by HKOWF will not impose long-term adverse impact to both species.

source: HKSAR

China Unveils World’s Largest Solar Office Building

Dec 30th, 2009
by AdminCTA.
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Solar office building in China.

Solar office building in China.

China is often dubbed as a heavy user of fossil fuels and polluter or a climate killer. Because it meets the 70% of its power needs by exploiting coals. But they are making changes on the environment front too. Slowly and steadily they are choosing wind and solar power as their source of energy. China has earned the distinction of having the world’s largest solar-powered building. It is situated in Dezhou, Shangdong Province in northwest China. The building covers an area of 75,000-square-meter. The office building is modelled after the sun dial structure.

The building provides many services such as space for exhibition centers, scientific research facilities, meeting and training facilities and a sustainable hotel. This building is named as the Sun and the Moon Altar micro-row buildings. The architecture included the Chinese characters for sun and moon. The solar building has a white exterior that represents clean energy.

The clean and green ideas are not confined to the massive solar array only but can be spotted in the whole building complex. They have utilized only 1% of steel to the Bird’s nest. Their advanced roof and wall insulation system consume 30% less energy than the national energy saving standard. The building will be showcased to the whole world during the 4th World Solar City Congress. The building’s pioneering solar energy and power-saving technologies, a few already patented, include a number of technical advancements that will push forward the mass application of solar energy.

The building will procure 95% of its energy needs from alternative energy sources. They have installed a 5000 square meter solar panel array on the building complex. This building also has the facilities of solar hot water, a solar desalination plant and a solar energy theme park.

Dezhou can safely be termed as a solar city because among 5.5 million people living in this city most of them opted for the solar hot water systems. In this city, solar energy is all pervasive. It powers everything from street lighting to tourist cars.

Greenpeace put forth some statistics for this city. According to them, in 2007, 800,000 people in Dezhou had jobs in the solar panel industry. Greenpeace predicts that this figure is expected to grow to 1,500,000 by 2020.

source: http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/

CLP Power can take lead in pollution fight

Dec 28th, 2009
by AdminCTA.
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Can CLP help us by setting up new green traget?

Can CLP help us by setting up new green traget?

The failure of the Copenhagen climate summit to cut a deal to tackle rising temperatures effectively is a sad indictment of leaders’ claims to be taking the matter seriously. In the absence of a unified effort, governments have to implement their own targets and rules to reduce the carbon emissions that are causing global warming.

The chief of Hong Kong’s biggest electricity producer and single largest polluter is right to say the lack of a legally binding treaty is a “real shame” and big disappointment. He should be going a step further by pairing his rhetoric with policies that make his company a shining example for others to follow.

CLP Holdings has a target of a 75 per cent cut in carbon intensity by 2050. It aims to have 20 per cent of its power generated from renewable and nuclear sources by 2020. Goals need to be set and met to fight climate change. They could be considerably more ambitious than those put in place by CLP.

Emissions from the power plants operated by CLP and Hong Kong’s other electricity supplier, Hongkong Electric Holdings, account for the majority of our city’s carbon emissions. Both firms are public companies with shareholders’ interests to protect. But the pollution that comes from the smokestacks of their plants affects the well-being of all citizens.

They have to make every possible effort to keep pollution levels as low as possible. Generating electricity by burning the most polluting fossil fuel of all, coal – as happens at present – is not in Hong Kong’s interests. Power bills are kept low, but the grey pall that hangs overhead threatens and harms our health. Our city’s image is lessened in the eyes of tourists and businesses wanting to locate here or expand.

Alternatives should be used as soon as possible, even at a higher cost. Both electricity providers are making an effort. In CLP’s case, sights are set on new nuclear reactors in Guangdong to complement cleaner energy being produced at its jointly owned plant at Daya Bay. More than 10 per cent of the power coming from its stations across the region is generated from renewable sources other than nuclear – up from 1 per cent five years ago. More gas and oil are being used instead of coal. As the unambitious targets indicate, though, greater effort is needed. The government drives Hong Kong’s policies to cut carbon emissions. It has not set targets, which are of debatable value in the context of a city that has a small area and is prone to the effects of regional pollution.

Officials have a poor track record in environmental protection. Their lack of a popular mandate to govern has made them reluctant to implement laws that affect the companies that contribute to bulging coffers. Authorities need to be pushed into tougher pollution-cutting policies. CLP is perfectly placed to take the lead. By setting an example through taking bigger strides to clean up its operations, it will send a loud and clear message to the government and community.

Electricity charges will most likely be raised, but the cost is worth bearing for the sake of the improvements that will follow.

Source: SCMP

Two million consumers to pay more, but Hongkong Electric tariff frozen

Dec 9th, 2009
by AdminCTA.
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Cheung Chi-fai
9th Dec, 2009

CLP Power (SEHK: 0002) was yesterday given government approval to raise its tariff by 2.6 per cent next year, including the basic tariff, which was adjusted for the first time in 10 years.

But Hongkong Electric (SEHK: 0006)’s charges for next year will be frozen.

The approved increase for more than two million power users in Kowloon and the New Territories triggered fears that it would push up inflation, and raise more questions on the future cost of clean energy.

From January 1 CLP Power’s charge per kilowatt hour will be 91.5 HK cents – 2.3 cents, or 2.6 per cent, higher than the existing 89.2 cents.

The increase includes a 2.6 cent rise in the basic tariff, which is partly offset by a fall in the fuel charge of 0.3 cents made possible by stable prices over the past year.

It means more than 70 per cent of domestic and commercial users will see monthly increases of less than HK$10 and HK$40, respectively.

CLP Power attributed the basic tariff increase to a rise in capital investment on emissions controls, and provision of a replacement gas supply, along with a rise in the cost of raw materials such as copper and aluminium.

“We are seeing in 2010 a slightly higher level of capital expenditure compounded by higher material costs,” Richard Lancaster, CLP Power’s chief operating officer, told the economic development panel yesterday. Lancaster said emissions control projects must be carried out to meet licence requirements, and new gas supplies had to be made ready by 2012 before the existing source from Hainan ran out.

The company is working on a desulphurisation project, and planning new pipelines from Shenzhen to receive natural gas from Central Asia and a LNG terminal.

The company also has to provide about HK$5 billion for power supply infrastructure at new developments such as in Kai Tak. Lancaster said it was the first time in 10 years that the firm had raised its basic tariff, and the new net tariff would still be lower than last year’s level.

Environment secretary Edward Yau Tang-wah said yesterday that while anti-pollution measures at power plants were necessary, they were not the only reasons behind the tariff rise.

He said emissions control accounted for less than a third of the total capital spending of CLP Power, with about a half being spent on power transmission and distribution to new developments.

Hongkong Electric will freeze its tariff at 119.9 cents per kilowatt hour, without changes to either the basic rate or fuel charge.

“We hope this will help the economic recovery of Hong Kong, and minimise the impact on the public,” Tso Kai-sum, its group managing director, said.

However, Tso warned that the company was still under pressure to increase charges, because it had to double its gas use for power generation to 600,000 tonnes next year, and gas was about three times dearer than coal.

A person familiar with the negotiations between the government and the power firms said both companies had originally proposed raising their tariffs by 3-5 per cent. The person said Hongkong Electric would have a greater deficit in its fuel account next year as it expanded its gas intake.

Concerns have been expressed over the cost of increasing gas-fired electricity generation to a half in Hong Kong to improve air quality or mitigate climate change. Hongkong Electric said it needed to build more gas-fired units for this, while CLP Power said that its newly sourced gas supply from the mainland would be more expensive than what it was currently paying.

Meanwhile, legislator Lee Cheuk-yan criticised CLP Power for ignoring the financial difficulties low-income groups faced.

“This is likely to trigger a chain of price increases and the poor, who have not had any pay rises in recent years, are the hardest hit,” the unionist said.

Miriam Lau Kin-yee of the Liberal Party queried if it was justifiable for power firms to pass on all capital spending to consumers.

Greener fuel standards proposed for vehicles

Nov 18th, 2009
by AdminCTA.
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SCMP Martin Wong
Nov 18, 2009

The government has proposed making vehicles more environmentally friendly by requiring fuel supplied in the city to meet greener standards.

Government proposals in a Legislative Council paper that lawmakers will discuss on Monday include a move to the Euro V emission standard, introduced in the European Union for heavy diesel-powered vehicles last year, and Euro 5, which will apply in the EU for cars, vans and light trucks from next year.

Currently, Hong Kong’s highest requirement for vehicles is Euro IV/4, though the paper said that diesel supplied in fuel stations in the city already met Euro V.

“If existing petrol vehicles use Euro 5 petrol, their emissions of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons will be reduced by about 10 per cent,” the paper said.

Oil companies said it was difficult to predict the price of Euro 5 petrol. Some estimated it would sell at less than 20 HK cents per litre more than Euro 4, which now cost about HK$12-13 a litre, according to the paper.

The government stated in the paper that it was still reviewing whether it would adopt the higher standard for vehicles. “As the Japanese vehicle manufacturers require more time to produce Euro [V/5] compliant vehicles for the Hong Kong market, we are not yet ready to implement the Euro [V/5] vehicle emission standard,” the paper stated. Most heavy duty commercial vehicles in Hong Kong were imported from Japan, it stated.

Democratic Party lawmaker Andrew Cheng Kar-foo, deputy chairman of the Legco transport panel, welcomed the proposal.

“We lawmakers welcome all suggestions to make our city greener,” he said. “As for the petrol price, it is only a little more than the current price.”

10 Electric Cars VS Electric Cars in Families

Nov 2nd, 2009
by AdminCTA.
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Using Green energy is the trend of different governments throughout the world. After HKSAR government said that she will introduce 10 electric cars in the policy address, another government announced that she will bring green vehicles into the country.

Let’s see this news:

On Friday, October 30 at 8:30 PM, “NOW” investigates how the Danish government and Better Place are working together to put electric cars into the hands of as many Danish families as possible. The idea is still having trouble getting out of the garage here in America, but Denmark could be an inspiration.

Electric Car can help much in the environment.

Electric Car can help much in the environment.

Demark is a country famous for using green energy. She had developed wind power to produce electricity, setting a good example in creating clear power. Now she go further, not just introducing electric cars in government use, but encouraging the citizens to use electric cars. If the electric plant in Demark produces electricity by fuel such as coal, we may say the electric cars there are not clean enough. However, the electric cars in Demark are powered by wind, and contribute a lot to the Earth’s health.

Compare with Demark Government, HKSAR government seem contribute less in environmental protection. Both government talking about electric cars, the former is introducing the cars to the citizens, but the later is introducing 10 cars in government use only. We are both developed region, and we are both enjoying high technology and high quality of life. When we come to the environmental protection issues, we have no excuse. So please require the government to do more in order to clear the air.

Source: NOW, Truthout Programming Note

CLP Power replaced generators in island with wind and solar power

Oct 22nd, 2009
by AdminCTA.
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CLP Power introduce green technology in Island.

CLP Power introduce green technology in Island.

Transfer electricity to the islands had long been a problem for the engineers in power plants. Neither using submarine cables nor overhead lines would be practical for the electricity supply to the island. Using an overhead line would damage the sea view, but using submarine cable would damage coral in the sea. However building wind and solar power facilities can be a good alternative now. CLP Power is a good example on this ecology friendly technology.

The Dawn Island Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre located in Town Island, southern tip of Sai Kung, and using generators for electricity supply for years. However it is not effective and do harm to the environment. The generators emitted carbon dioxide while operating. At the same time they often break down, and the Centre needs to stop electricity for many times a day. The CLP Power therefore will build wind and solar power facilities to replace the generators, and the Dawn Island Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre will become the first location in Hong Kong powered entirely by renewable energy.

Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre will become first location in Hong Kong powered entirely by renewable energy.

Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre will become first location in Hong Kong powered entirely by renewable energy.

After the install of solar plants and wind turbines, they will provide 192kW of electricity which enough to run about 200 air conditioners. At the same time, carbon dioxide emissions will be reduced by 70 tonnes a year, and the electricity generated can be used in hostels, visitors’ centre and other facilities.

This is a good example for us to follow, and will give us valuable experience on green energy development. For now there is a small rehabilitation centre powered by renewable energy, how about a New Territory village later on? If the scale increased, we can have a whole district powered by renewable energy, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions dramatically. Let’s support more green energy proposal just like the Dawn Island one.

Inventor Aims To Generate His Own Power

Jun 21st, 2009
by AdminCTA.
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Dan Kadison, SCMP – Jun 21, 2009

Lucien Gambarota wants to go off the grid – the electrical grid, that is.
In the next couple of months, the local inventor will use alternative energy technologies to try to generate all of the electricity needed for his new Kowloon headquarters.

“My target is simple. I want to pay zero dollars to CLP, because if I pay zero dollars that means I am carbon free,” Mr Gambarota said.

The 51-year-old made the announcement during the opening of his new Wai Yip Street, Kwun Tong, workshop yesterday. There, in the nearly 8,000 sq ft space, he told dozens of guests that he had already been able to cut his carbon footprint by 88 per cent.

“This place here was using … 250 kilowatt-hours a year per square metre – and there is nothing wrong with that. This is the average in Hong Kong,” said Mr Gambarota, the founder of the MotorWave Group, a renewable energy company.

But he is in an environmentally friendly industry, and he wanted to do better. He and his workers added insulation, switched to compact fluorescent lighting and removed the air conditioning units. They “gutted, cancelled, deleted, changed, modified” everything they could, he said.

Now, “we are down to 40 [kilowatt-hours a year per square metre],” Mr Gambarota said to applause. The space was “releasing something like … 70 tonnes of [carbon dioxide] a year … now we release 8.2 tonnes.”

The difference translates to savings of more than HK$85,000 a year, but Mr Gambarota isn’t content with annual electricity costs of HK$12,000.

He plans to go up to the roof and install solar and wind energy equipment, including his own special brand of wind turbines, to see if he can produce all of his own electricity.
“Can we do it? I’ll tell you in two months. But we’ll be very, very close to that,” he said. “And why is it important? Because, most probably, we’ll be the first factory in the world to have such a low carbon print.”

Guests at Mr Gambarota’s workshop yesterday included Civic Party vice-chairman Albert Lai Kwong-tak; Civic Party legislators Audrey Eu Yuet-mee and Alan Leong Kah-kit; Carbon Care Asia chairman Chong Chan-yau; Alfred Sit Wing-hang, assistant director of the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department; and Danny Ngai Kam-fai, vice-president of the Chinese Manufacturers’ Association and a shareholder in Mr Gambarota’s company.

Mr Leong, whose Civic Party has proposed a “green New Deal” job creation plan, said he supported the inventor’s efforts. “The whole Legislative Council supports redefining our supplies and demands in a new economy,” Mr Leong said. “So I think I’m in the right place today to witness how Hong Kong industrialists, Hong Kong industries, [are] doing something towards that goal.”

Mr Lai also issued a challenge to Mr Gambarota: generate additional electricity and feed it back into the grid. “We will work together,” Mr Lai told the inventor. “We will work on the policy side, and you will work on the technology side to make sure this workshop actually produces energy and not just consumes it.”

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