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Clear The Air Quick Stats

Air Pollution Stats

Sixty percent of respondents to a survey say they’ve suffered very serious health problems because of Hong Kong’s polluted air.
Almost 8 out of 10 say they’re dissatisfied with government action to tackle the problem.
Hong Kong's Air Pollution Index is based on 20-year-old air-quality objectives.
Hong Kong’s air-quality objective for particulates is 180, but the World Health Organization guideline is 50.
In Australia each person has 374,800m2 of space compared to Hong Kong’s 154.4 m2 each in which to breathe the C02 and pollutants emitted.
That is 42 kgs emissions per m2 per Hong Kong person per year compared with 0.072 kgs emissions per m2 per Australian person per year.
Over 50% of the pollution in Hong Kong is produced locally.

Energy Stats

Power plants are the biggest local source of greenhouse gas emissions, which account for about 70% of carbon dioxide emissions (the major warming gases) in Hong Kong.
CLP is the biggest polluter, responsible for half of the release.
Between 1990 and 2005, greenhouse gas emissions in Hong Kong have increased 14%.
China Light and Power (CLP) and HK Electric (HEC) Holdings emit 76,273.97 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) into Hong Kong's air every day. That is 3,190 tonnes per hour.
A typical aircon unit in a room when running can consume over 1500 watts – 100 times more energy than the Compact Fluorescent Lamp.
Leaving an aircon running for 1 hour with no one in the room is equivalent to leaving the light on continuously for 4 days.
Using ceiling fans can potentially result in electricity savings of 14% per annum for 1 DegC (approx) increase in the aircon thermostat setting and still provide good comfort levels.
HongKong Electric supplies electricity to only 20% of Hong Kong’s population, but it emits 40% of SO2 in the power sector.
From 1997 to 2004, SO2 emissions in Hong Kong increased by 50%.
Turning the thermostat up one degree will save 3% on your energy bill and reduce the need to generate power from burning coal.
Hong Kong has only 5% of the land of the Pearl River Delta, but we create 20% of all the pollution.
In Hong Kong (2002 stats), the energy sector accounts for 86% of the SO2 (Sulfur Dioxide), 54% of the NOx (Nitrous Oxide), 35% of the RSP (Respirable Suspended Particulates) emitted by all local sources.
The energy sector, mainly electricity generation, is the major source of GHG emissions, accounting for over 60% of the total local GHG emissions.

Idling Engine Stats

Hong Kong has the highest road traffic density in the world.
Hong Kong has about 567,705 vehicles with a total road length of only 2009km.
On average, there are 275 vehicles per km on the road.
Vehicles are the second largest source of air pollution in Hong Kong, contributing to 25%, 25% and 15% of the territory-wide emission of respirable suspended particulates (RSP), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and carbon dioxide (CO2) respectively.
Idling a vehicle for as little as 10 minutes a day consumes an average of 100 litres of petrol a year; i.e. $1,400 a year assuming petrol is priced at $14 a litre.
Idling a vehicle can also contaminate engine oil and accelerate the deterioration of engine components.

Tobacco Stats

Every year in Hong Kong, pollution from 3,800,000,000 cigarettes and cigars creates 6 tonnes of nicotine, 57 tonnes of respirable suspended particles & 295 tonnes of carbon monoxide.
The Air Pollution Index in your local noodle shop goes up to 200 after just two cigarettes.
The death toll from active and passive smoking in Hong Kong is equivalent to 20 aeroplanes each with 350 people crashing each year.
Less than 15% of the population in Hong Kong smoke.
Each pack of cigarettes a man smokes reduces the value of his life by $222. For women, the results are $94 per pack.
In the Hong Kong population of 6.5 million in 1998, the annual value of direct medical costs, long term care and productivity loss was US$532 million for active smoking and US$156 million for passive smoking; passive smoking accounted for 23% of the total costs. Adding the value of attributable lives lost brought the annual cost to US$9.4 billion.