Feasibility of introducing wasted oil generated biofuel to motor vehicles in Hong Kong

Abstract

There has been an increasing urgency for a more extensive use of clean energy produced by local renewable sources without creating environmental debt. Nowadays, a number of Hong Kong biofuel companies are generating a stable supply of biodiesel using wasted cooking oil collected from local restaurants. 15 years after the overwhelming of introduction of biodiesel vehicles by the LPG Vehicle Scheme in 2000, there have been critics against the environmental performance of LPG vehicles. The effectiveness of the scheme should be examined again and reconsidered on whether further promotion of LPG is needed. This study attempts to investigate the feasibility of replacing LPG vehicles by biodiesel vehicles. Modeling the market share of biodiesel vehicles in the current LPG vehicle market was undertaken and pollutants generated by LPG vehicles and biodiesel vehicles were compared. It is found that neither of the fuels alone can improve the air quality. Therefore, a combination of both LPG and biodiesel vehicles is to be preferred in the transport sector. 近年香港為加強環境永續發展，加強推廣本地生產之可再生潔淨能源越趨迫切。目前本地數間生物燃料公司從食肆收集廢食油，為本港穩定地生產可再生的生物柴油。過去曾有關於使用生化柴油作為香港車輛燃料之可行性研究，惟該研究最後被二零零零年的〈石油氣車輛計劃〉所取締。十五年後的今日，石油氣車輛的環保效能受到空氣污染專家所質疑。故此，本研究旨在重新審視當年的決定，利用現今的數據評估生物柴油車輛取代石油氣車輛之可行性。本研究將分為兩個部分，首先模擬生物柴油於石油氣車輛市場的覆蓋率，並以此比較石油氣車輛與生物柴油車輛所產生的空氣污染物。結果發現石油氣和生物柴油的各種污染物排放量互有高低，因此為本地汽車市場引入不同燃料的車輛方能全面地提升空氣質素。