The Hong Kong government has been working on energy efficiency for more than 10 years and has reduced the emission of greenhouse gases by 17 percent from its historical height in the 1990s, an official said Tuesday.

Speaking at the "Hong Kong Energy Efficiency Awards" presentation ceremony, the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Sarah Liao, said that Hong Kong, as a world-class city, could tell the world that it was committed and was giving its best to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases in its work on energy efficiency.

According to the data provided by Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation, the average electricity consumption in Hong Kong was 5, 600 units per person, which was lower than the figures of about 12, 000 units in the United States, 16,000 units in Canada, 7,600 units in Japan and 7,400 units in Singapore.

However, Hong Kong must continue to conserve energy and reduce the burning of fossil fuel in a bid to further cut down the emission of carbon dioxide, Liao noted.

She pointed out that the government's effort in enhancing energy saving and upgrading energy efficiency could be carried out on three fronts - the government, the general public and private organizations.

An "Energy Efficiency Labeling Scheme" has been implemented since 1995 to provide energy performance data of the products with a view to encouraging the public to buy products with high-energy efficiency, Liao said.

While the existing scheme was voluntary, Liao said the government had proposed to introduce a "Mandatory Energy Efficiency Labeling Scheme" to further enhance energy saving. The first phase of the mandatory scheme will cover three products including refrigerators, room coolers and compact fluorescent lamps. The total electricity consumption of these three products amounts to more than 70 percent of domestic electricity consumption.

After the introduction of the mandatory scheme, it was estimated that Hong Kong could save about 150 million units of electricity consumption and reduce carbon dioxide emission by 105,000 tons annually.

(Xinhua News Agency May 10, 2006)