The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) released today (July 14) the 2019 greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory for Hong Kong.
Hong Kong's total GHG emissions in 2019 amounted to 40.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e), representing a decrease of about 2.0 per cent compared with that in 2018. The total population increased by about 0.8 per cent over the same period. When compared with the peak of about 44.6 million tonnes in 2014, the total GHG emissions have been reduced by about 10.1 per cent.
The carbon intensity was 0.014 kilograms of CO2-e per Hong Kong dollar GDP, which was comparable to the level in 2018. When compared with the 2005 base year figure, it has been reduced by 35.4 per cent.
The per capita GHG emissions amounted to about 5.3 tonnes, which was about 0.2 tonnes lower than that in 2018. When compared with the peak of about 6.2 tonnes in 2014, there has been a reduction of about 0.9 tonnes, i.e. a reduction of about 13.4 per cent.
Electricity generation continued to be the major source of emissions, amounting to 65.7 per cent of the total emissions. Other major emission sources were the transport sector (18.1 per cent) and waste management (7.3 per cent). Hong Kong's total GHG emissions reached its peak in 2014 and is showing a downward trend. As the power companies continue to phase out existing coal-fired units and replace them with natural gas and non-fossil fuel energy sources, the proportion of coal-fired electricity generation had been reduced from about 59 per cent in 2014 to about 44 per cent in 2019, and further reduced to about 24 per cent in 2020. This will help Hong Kong move towards the expected level of per capita GHG emissions of about 4.5 tonnes in 2020.
Details of the 2019 GHG inventory can be found on the EPD website at www.climateready.gov.hk/page.php?id=23&lang=1.
Follow this news feed: East Asia