Hong Kong’s car pollution sensors help it clean its air in world first
Summary
Carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide pollution have fallen sharply in Hong Kong since it introduced a world-first scheme to detect and repair vehicles with the highest emissions Hong Kong has improved its air quality by using roadside sensors to detect vehicles with the dirtiest fumes and forcing owners to get them fixed. Vehicles that run on petrol and diesel emit harmful chemicals like carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons. Since the enforcement programme began in September 2014, more than 16,000 high-emissions vehicles have been detected and 96 per cent have been fixed and passed the compulsory emissions test, according to an analysis led by Yuhan Huang at the University of Technology Sydney in Australia. In 2015, independent monitoring found that average concentrations of carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides at roadside locations had dropped by 26 and 27 per cent respectively compared to 2012 levels. Several European countries are experimenting with using roadside sensors to monitor vehicle pollution, but Hong Kong is the first to use them for enforcement purposes, says Huang.