What is it?

Nitrogen dioxide is an irritant gas, which at high concentrations causes

inflammation of the airways.

When nitrogen is released during fuel combustion it combines with oxygen

atoms to create nitric oxide (NO). This further combines with oxygen to create
nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Nitric oxide is not considered to be hazardous to
health at typical ambient concentrations, but nitrogen dioxide can be.
Nitrogen dioxide and nitric oxide are referred to together as oxides of nitrogen
(NOx).

NOx gases react to form smog and acid rain as well as being central to the
formation of fine particles (PM) and ground level ozone, both of which are
associated with adverse health effects..

Sources of NOx Pollution

NOx is produced from the reaction of nitrogen and oxygen gases in the air
during combustion, especially at high temperatures. In areas of high motor
vehicle traffic, such as in large cities, the amount of nitrogen oxides emitted
into the atmosphere as air pollution can be significant. NOx gases are formed
whenever combustion occurs in the presence of nitrogen e.g. in car engines;
they are also produced naturally by lightning.

- See more at: http://www.icopal-noxite.co.uk/nox-problem/noxpollution.aspx#sthash.YSS3uFGS.dpuf

The Hong Kong SAR and Guangdong Provincial Governments have long been
collaborating to improve the air quality in thePearl River Delta
(PRD) Regionnote1. Over the past years, the two Governments significantly
reduced the emissions of four major pollutants, namely SO 2, NOx, RSP and VOC.

At the meeting of Hong Kong-Guangdong Joint Working Group on Sustainable

Development and Environmental Protection held in November 2012, both sides
endorsed a new set of emission reduction targets/ranges up to 2020, using 2010
as base year. Both sides have been implementing additional pollution control
measures on this basis for bringing continuous improvement to the regional air
quality.
In order to achieve the emission targets/ranges set for 2015 and 2020, Hong
Kong has implemented the following key measures:

Completed in April 2014 a one-off subsidy scheme to replace the catalytic

convertors and oxygen sensors of petrol / Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)
taxis and light buses;

Launched in March 2014 an incentive-cum-regulatory scheme to phase

out pre-Euro IV diesel commercial vehicles by end 2019;

Strengthened the inspection and maintenance of LPG and petrol vehicles

from September 2014 by deploying roadside remote sensing equipment
to detect excessive emissions from petrol and LPG vehicles;

Tightened the limit on sulphur content of locally supplied marine light

diesel to 0.05% in April 2014;

Tightened progressively the emission caps on power plants, with the

latest emission caps effective in 2019; and

Continued to enforce the Air Pollution Control (Volatile Organic

Compounds) Regulation to control volatile organic compounds emission
from paints, printing inks, adhesives, sealants and selected consumer
products.

Other key measures in the pipeline include:

Mandating the use of low-sulphur fuel for ocean-going vessels berthing in

Hong Kong from 1 July 2015 under the Pollution Control (Ocean Going
Vessels) (Fuel at Berth) Regulation;

Controlling the emissions from off-road mobile machinery from 1

September 2015 under the Air Pollution Control (Non-road Mobile
Machinery) (Emission) Regulation; and

Retrofitting Euro II and Euro III franchised buses with selective catalytic
reduction devices to reduce their emissions.

Such measures will help us to achieve the emission reduction targets for 2015
and 2020, and to meet broadly the existing Air Quality Objectives by 2020.