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Progress of Vehicle Emissions Control Measures Tightening Fuel and Vehicle Emission Standards Cleaner Alternatives to Diesel Vehicles Controlling Emissions from the Remaining Diesel Vehicles Strengthening Emission Inspection and Enforcement Promoting Better Vehicle Maintenance and Eco-driving Promoting Electric Vehicle Adoption Building a Local Vehicle Emission Database and Introducing In-use Compliance Program
Progress of Vehicle Emissions Control Measures The Government has adopted an integrated vehicle emission control strategy, which has the following 6 major elements, to tackle roadside air pollution issues:
Latest Initiatives
Previous Initiatives
Tightening Fuel and Vehicle Emission Standards Vehicle emission standards Emission standards for first-registered vehicles have been tightened continuously since 1995. Currently the vehicle emission standards for motor vehicle first registration (except for diesel private cars, motor cycles and motor tricycles) were tightened to Euro VI (see table below). Compared with their Euro V counterparts, Euro VI heavy duty diesel vehicles emit about 80 per cent less nitrogen oxides (NOx) and 50 per cent less respirable suspended particulates (RSP or PM10), while Euro 6 light duty diesel vehicles emit about 55 per cent less NOx. Prevailing vehicle emission standards (by category) and their implementation dates
Vehicle fuel standards Ultra low sulphur diesel (ULSD)- ULSD has a sulphur content of 0.005%, which is the Euro IV requirement for motor vehicle diesel. It became the only motor diesel fuel available at petrol filling stations in Hong Kong, after the Government introduced a concessionary duty on ULSD in July 2000. Since April 2002, ULSD has been the statutory minimum requirement for motor vehicle diesel, 3 years ahead of the European Union. Hong Kong is also the first place in Asia to introduce ULSD on a full scale for its vehicle fleet. Euro V diesel- On 1 December 2007, the Government offered a concessionary duty rate of $0.56 per litre for Euro V diesel, which has a sulphur content of 0.001%. Since then, all petrol filling stations in Hong Kong are exclusively offering this fuel. Starting from 14 July 2008, the duty rate for Euro V diesel has been waived. Biodiesel- The Air Pollution Control (Motor Vehicle Fuel) (Amendment) Regulation 2009 came into force on 1 July 2010. The Amendment Regulation provides statutory control on the specifications of motor vehicle biodiesel and the labelling requirement on selling of motor vehicle biodiesel with biodiesel content over 5%. Euro V Motor Vehicle Fuels- As from 1 July 2010, we have tightened the statutory motor vehicle diesel and unleaded petrol specifications to Euro V level. The major difference between Euro IV and Euro V motor vehicle fuels (both diesel and petrol) is the tightening of the cap on sulphur content from 0.005% to 0.001%.
Cleaner Alternatives to Diesel Vehicles LPG Taxis and Light Buses
Light Buses- We started a programme in August 2002 to offer incentives to encourage the early replacement of the 6 000 diesel light buses with LPG or electric ones. For diesel public light buses, we offered a one-off grant of $60,000 or $80,000 for each diesel public light bus that was replaced with an LPG or electric one respectively; for diesel private light buses, each replacement LPG vehicle was exempted from the first registration tax. The programme was completed at the end of 2005. Right now, about 80% of the registered public light buses run on LPG.
Controlling Emissions from the Remaining Diesel Vehicles Light diesel vehicles- A programme to help owners of pre-Euro light diesel vehicles to retrofit their vehicles with particulate traps or catalytic converters was completed in 2001. More than 80% of the fleet, or 24 000 light diesel vehicles, were fitted with these devices under the retrofit programme. A particulate trap/catalytic converter can cut particulates emission from a pre-Euro light diesel vehicle by about 30%. From December 2003, a regulation requiring all pre-Euro diesel light vehicles up to 4 tonnes to be installed with suitable particulate reduction devices has been implemented.
Medium and heavy diesel vehicles- A programme to help owners of pre-Euro heavy diesel, other than those heavy duty vehicles that require the operation of on-board equipment during idling (i.e. long idling vehicles) which were retrofitted separately in another programme, to retrofit their vehicles with catalytic converters was completed in 2004. More than 96% of the fleet, or 34 000 heavy diesel vehicles, were fitted with catalytic converters under the retrofit programme. A catalytic converter can cut particulates emission from a pre-Euro heavy diesel vehicle by about 25% to 35%. From April 2006, a regulation requiring all these pre-Euro heavy diesel vehicles to be installed with suitable particulate reduction devices has been implemented.
A similar programme to help owners of long idling pre-Euro heavy diesel vehicles (i.e. concrete mixer, gully emptier, lorry crane and pressure tanker) to retrofit their vehicles with catalytic converters was completed in 2005. About 95% of the fleet, or 2 500 long idling pre-Euro heavy diesel vehicles, were fitted with catalytic converters under the retrofit programme. From April 2007, a regulation requiring all these long idling pre-Euro heavy diesel vehicles to be installed with suitable particulate reduction devices has been implemented. Buses- In 2010, the FBCs completed retrofitting their Euro II and III buses with diesel particulate filters (DPF), where technically feasible. A DPF can reduce particulate emissions from diesel vehicles by over 80%. Currently all pre-Euro and Euro I franchised buses have already been phased out. In order to improve roadside air quality, we have fully subsidized the FBCs to retrofit 1 030 eligible Euro II and III franchised buses with SCRs to upgrade their emissions performance to Euro IV or above level. The retrofit programme was completed in 2017.
Strengthening Emission Inspection and Enforcement Controlling smoky vehicles 
The Smoky Vehicle Control Programme (SVCP) has been in operation since 1988. This programme mainly targets diesel vehicles that emit excessive smoke due to poor maintenance. Smoky vehicle spotters who are trained and accredited by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) will report diesel vehicles that emit excessive smoke on the road to EPD. EPD will issue Emission Testing Notices (ETNs) to the owners of the spotted vehicles, requiring them to fix the smoke problem and pass a chassis dynamometer smoke test within 12 working days. Vehicles failing the smoke test would have their licences cancelled by the Transport Department. 
Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) in collaboration with EPD have, from time to time, supported the programme by mounting roadside smoke-testing operations. Police officers will stop vehicles having excessive smoke emissions on road for a smoke test using a portable smokemeter. Fixed penalty ticket will be issued to the owners of vehicles failing the smoke test. The fixed penalty for smoky vehicle was raised from $450 to $1,000 on 1 December 2000. EPD will separately issue an ETN to the owner requiring them to fix the smoke problem and pass the smoke test at a DVETC within 12 working days. A majority of vehicles emitting excessive smoke are aged and poorly maintained DCVs. To improve roadside air quality and better protect public health, EPD launched an incentive-cum-regulatory scheme in March 2014 to phase out progressively some 82 000 pre-Euro IV DCVs. The number of smoky vehicles on the road has been reduced in turn, resulting in a significant drop in the number of smoky vehicle reports made by the accredited spotters.
Strengthened control of emissions from LPG and petrol vehicles From 1 September 2014 onwards, a strengthened vehicle emission regime for petrol and LPG vehicles has been implemented that includes limits for carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC) and NOx to improve roadside air quality. Roadside remote sensing equipment are deployed to identify vehicles with excessive emission which will be required to pass a chassis dynamometer emission test after repair. Failure to comply with the requirement will lead to cancellation of the licence of the vehicle by the Commissioner for Transport.
Promoting Better Vehicle Maintenance and Eco-driving Training and seminars on vehicle maintenance Since August 1999, the EPD, in collaboration with the Vocational Training Council and other organisations had been offering training sessions for vehicle mechanics on proper engine repair and maintenance to reduce emissions from vehicles. At present, vehicle maintenance courses are still being offered by the Vocational Training Council for vehicle mechanics. Since September 2014, the EPD has been deploying roadside remote sensing equipment to measure the exhaust emissions from LPG and petrol vehicles. Excessively emitting vehicles identified have to pass a chassis dynamometer based emission test to confirm that they meet the emission limits. To help the vehicle mechanics to get familiar with the new emission test, technical seminars and demonstration tests have been organised to explain the technical details. The EPD has also commissioned the Vocational Training Council to deliver free short courses to the trade teaching the technique of maintaining the LPG and petrol vehicles to pass the chassis dynamometer based emission test.
Seminars on eco-driving The EPD, in collaboration with the Vocational Training Council, Hong Kong Productivity Council and some relevant trade associations/institutions, conducted eco-driving seminars for the public. These seminars aim at promoting proper vehicle maintenance and eco-driving practices for fleet operators, commercial vehicle drivers and vehicle owners and drivers with a view to reducing vehicular emissions and switching off idling engines; and hence improving the roadside air quality. We will continue to organise such eco-driving seminars.
Promoting Electric Vehicle Adoption As electric vehicles (EV) have no tailpipe emissions and low carbon emission, the Government has been actively promoting EV adoption and has formulated a series of policies and measures. In March 2021, the Government announced the first Hong Kong Roadmap on Popularisation of Electric Vehicles, which will guide Hong Kong’s future direction to the target of zero vehicular emissions early. For details, please see Promotion of Electric Vehicles in Hong Kong.
Building a Local Vehicle Emission Database and Introducing In-use Compliance Program We also evaluate the performance of the latest vehicle technologies over time, especially the performance of after-treatment devices and build up a local in-use vehicle emission database by portable emission measurement systems (PEMS) that can account for the emission design standards, operating conditions and engine conditions of local vehicles. With the database, we shall be able to estimate with greater precision motor vehicle emissions and better understand how different emission control measures will affect local emissions. Conducting vehicle emission measurements by PEMS is considered worldwide to be the most effective. PEMS are considered an effective means of in-use compliance checking. So far, we have conducted vehicle emission measurements for about 450 in-use vehicles of various vehicle classes, like petrol cars, taxis, light and heavy goods vehicles, public and private light buses, franchised and non-franchised buses. Training/practice and examinations for the operation of PEMS are being conducted by EPD at least twice a year. Those who have passed the examination will be provided with a certificate for the operation of PEMS showed in the link below: Certificate for the Operation of PEMS
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The above measures have brought a significant improvement of roadside air quality. Compared with 1999, the concentrations of major air pollutants recorded at the roadside air quality monitoring stations have been on a declining trend in 2020: the annual average concentrations of respirable suspended particulates (RSP), fine suspended particulates (FSP), NO2, and sulphur dioxide (SO2) have dropped by 66%, 65%, 29% and 81% respectively, and the number of smoky vehicles spotted has also been reduced by nearly 90%. Although NO2 concentration at the roadside has dropped by about 40% from its peak in 2011, it is still at a high level, and the annual average concentration exceeds the respective annual Air Quality Objective. This remains a key challenge we need to tackle. To further improve roadside air quality and tackle the NO2 problem, we have embarked on additional vehicle emission control measures including the phasing out Euro IV DCVs; strengthening the emission control of petrol and LPG vehicles through the deployment of roadside remote sensing equipment and chassis dynamometers for emission testing. The Government is also actively promoting electric vehicle adoption in Hong Kong.
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