記者會照片：

陳澤強教授 (HKUST):

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2439304/media/ChakChan_hkust.JPG

陸恭蕙 (思匯)):

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2439304/media/ChristineLoh_CivicExchange.JPG

陳方盈 (健康空氣行動):

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2439304/media/EricaChan_CleanAirNetwork.JPG

記者會:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2439304/media/PressConf01.JPG

如有查詢，請聯絡：

思匯政策研究所

• 行政總監陸恭蕙，電話：2893 0213 / 9802 8888
• 活動項目及傳訊經理黃潔文，電話：36222301 / 9361 5947

香港科技大學

• 環境學部署理主任陳澤強教授，電話：2358 7124

健康空氣行動

• 行政總裁 Joanne Ooi，電話：3971 0106 / 9310 5878
• 社區關係主任陳方盈，電話：3971 0106 / 9633 1943

附錄 1：

香港科技大學得到香港賽馬會慈善信託基金的慷慨支持，於2001年特別設計了大氣監測走航平台（簡稱 MAP）。這平台乃設於小型貨車上的流動設施，目的在於小型貨車在路面行走時量度空氣質素。MAP 平台在離地3.5米處設有氣體和粒子收集口，採集路邊空氣污染物。該平台自2002年已在香港和澳門用於空氣質素研究，並已收集超過 30,000 公里的數據。該平台曾用於研究香港和澳門的一般空氣質素概況、追蹤發電廠排放的廢氣、量度隧道內的縱向空氣質素，並研究大氣中各種氣體和粒子污染物之間的互動情況。MAP 可在街道上邊行走邊測量空氣質素，這些優點使該平台成為在空間狹小、正常情況下不能泊車，而且一般沒有電力供應的繁忙街道/道路上記錄空氣質素的理想工具。

MAP 量度基準氣體污染物和粒子物質的濃度，包括一氧化氮、二氧化氮、氮氧化物、二氧化硫、一氧化碳、臭氧、黑碳等。該平台也根據全球定位系統位置記錄位置數據以及氣象資訊。

PRESS RELEASE

[For immediate release]

Fixing roadside pollution: Matching problems with solutions

18-district survey reveals priority areas and solutions

Hong Kong. June 22, 2010 . . . Public policy think tank Civic Exchange today

announced the findings of a study on roadside air pollution covering all 18 districts in Hong Kong. The study reveals the key factors that determine roadside pollution levels and identifies that shipping emissions from the port can be an important source of roadside pollutants.

The survey, which was conducted by Professor Chak Chan and his team at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, using the Mobile real-time Air-monitoring Platform[1] (MAP), a specially designed van [slide #1] equipped with sophisticated equipment for making air quality measurements as it travels, showed that high roadside pollution levels are not restricted to Central, Mong Kok and Causeway Bay[2], but are found throughout Hong Kong.

Christine Loh, Chief Executive Officer of Civic Exchange noted that the output from the MAP was an invaluable new tool for interpreting, communicating, and countering the threats of roadside air pollution. In particular she noted that some of the control measures proposed by the Government could be assessed against the new data.

“Professor Chan’s research lays out the anatomy of roadside pollution in the clearest terms. Now we know the principal contributing factors we can use this very detailed information to identify and fix specific problems. We see immediate application in the siting of low emissions zones, where to create more urban open space, and dealing with reducing shipping emissions at the Kwai Chung area,” said Ms Loh. [slide #2]

Professor Chan’s team used the MAP to cover a wide variety of streets, roads and highways and recorded substantial variations in roadside air quality within each district. These variations depend upon a combination of factors:

Volume of traffic

The more vehicles there are on the road, the higher the amount of pollution emitted. The Kwun Tong Bypass [slide #3] is a typical busy highway with high pollution levels.

Degree of congestion

The more that traffic stops and starts and the slower it moves (because of traffic lights, tight corners, merging lanes or other blockages) the more pollution is emitted. Nathan Road in Mong Kok [slide #4] is consistently congested.

Degree of ventilation

The more enclosed the road (by “street canyons” between tall and bulky buildings, and flyovers – e.g. Hennessy Road [slide #5-6]) the greater the concentration of pollution. Conversely where roads run through or alongside open spaces (such as the Kwun Tong Bypass [slide #3]), pollutants disperse more effectively, and concentrations are relatively lower. For example, we have learned that well-ventilated highways often show much lower pollution levels than roads in street canyons carrying many fewer cars,” said Professor Chan.

He illustrated this by comparing the levels of traffic and nitrogen dioxide on the very busy but well ventilated Kwun Tong Bypass and Tolo Highway, with those on Hennessy Road and Nathan Road, which are used by many fewer vehicles, but ventilation is much worse, and as a result shows dramatically higher levels of nitrogen dioxide [slide #8]. “We can now show how pollution levels can differ dramatically in different locations, even when they are just about ten metres apart. Based on finding similar patterns across many districts [slide #7], we can often explain why these variations by the degree of air ventilation.

His team also showed that sulphur dioxide (SO₂) emissions[3] from container ships at Kwai Chung Container Port have a measurable influence on roadside pollution levels in surrounding areas.

“By correlating shifting pockets of high SO₂ readings with changes in wind direction, we showed that when the wind blew directly from the port, SO₂ levels went up. As the wind shifted direction, so different stretches of road showed high SO₂ levels [slide #9-12],” added Professor Chan.

Ms Loh also noted that there were many ways to apply Professor Chan’s research. She explained that Civic Exchange had shared Professor Chan’s initial findings with Clean Air Network (CAN), which uses different new media tools to share information about air pollution with the public.

Joanne Ooi, Chief Executive Officer of CAN showed how the locations of every school and hospital in Wanchai, Central, Kwai Chung and Yau Tsim Mong District and the pollution tracks created by the MAP could be layered onto the Google Earth satellite image of Hong Kong [slide #13].

“Plotting the locations of schools against the MAP’s roadside pollution data underlines how vulnerable children are, regardless of their socioeconomic status. The same is true of those in hospital, many of whom are elderly. We hope that showing the exposure levels at these sites will help the public, legislators and officials to better appreciate the scale of the threat to public health and create a new urgency to reduce roadside emissions,” said Ms Ooi.

- Ends -

Acknowledgement:

The current project is generously funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust

Please download slide images and photos from the following link:

[PPT slides]

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2439304/media/100622PRslides.ppt

[Press conference photos]

Prof. Chak Chan (HKUST):

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2439304/media/ChakChan_hkust.JPG

Christine Loh (Civic Exchange):

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2439304/media/ChristineLoh_CivicExchange.JPG

Erica Chan (Clean Air Network):

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2439304/media/EricaChan_CleanAirNetwork.JPG

Press Conference:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2439304/media/PressConf01.JPG

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2439304/media/PressConf02.JPG

For further information please contact:

Civic Exchange

·        Christine Loh, Chief Executive Officer on 2893 0213 / 98028888

·        Michelle Wong, Events and Communications Manager on 36222301 / 9361 5947

Hong Kong University of Science & Technology

·        Professor Chak Chan, Acting Head & Professor, Division of Environment on 2358 7124

Clean Air Network

·        Joanne Ooi, Chief Executive Officer on 3971 0106 / 9310 5878

·        Erica Chan, Community Outreach Officer on 3971 0106 / 9633 1943

Appendix 1:

The MAP (Mobile real-time Air-monitoring Platform) is a mobile facility that was built, with a generous grant from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, in the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2001 to make air quality measurements as it travels on roads. With the sample inlets for both gas and particles at a height of 3.5 m above ground, the MAP platform is designed to study the street-level air pollution. It has been used in air quality studies in Hong Kong and Macau since 2002 and has gathered more than 30,000 km of data. It has been used in studying the general air quality distribution in Hong Kong and Macau, in tracking plumes from power plants, in measuring longitudinal air quality in tunnels and in examining the dynamics of the gaseous and particulate pollutants in the atmosphere. MAP’s mobility and maneuverability in streets and its ability to take measurements whilst on the move make it an ideal tool to map the air quality on busy roads/streets where space is limited, parking is normally not allowed and a power supply is usually not available.

MAP measures the concentration of the criteria gaseous pollutants and particulate matter, including NO/NO₂/NO_X, SO₂, CO, O₃, black carbon and others. It also records positional data with GPS (Global Positioning System) location, and meteorological information.