the major problem with HKG is lack of decision making by Lame Duck Tsang. The EPD has 1800 staff but no experts. The major problem is PM2.5 which the Government monitors but refuses to issue figures on - it just issues PM10 data and its API index is 27 years out of date. Power station emissions are reducing due to FGD equipment being finally installed and increased use of gas instead of coal. The problem in HKG is the apathetic Govt is scared of all the diesel trucks blocking Central if they do what they must and phase out old diesels and buses. The idiots mandated particulate traps for old diesels but not the required catalytic units in the exhausts. The result is available online in previous reports and that is what happened - the particulate filters without the catalytic units increases the vehicles' NO2 emissions. That is why at CNY when the chinese factories were shut and HK on holiday we had API readings of 177 in Central and Causeway Bay. The NO2 from the old diesels plus VOCs from the old diesels and cars in the presence of sunlight creates a photo chemical smog. Meanwhile the busiest shipping lines in the world pass through HK waters and the heavy bunker fuel is belching 3% sulphur that drops nicely into the overbuilt urban canyons of Likasingville and sits on top of the chemical smog - hence the 'haze; where you cannot see across the harbour.
Air Pollution Hong Kong - Help us Clear The Air