Hong Kong's Utilities to Raise Natural Gas Usage

Hong Kong’s two electricity suppliers will cut their emissions of air pollutants by increasing the use of natural gas during the Olympic equestrian events, a government spokesman said Saturday.

The companies, Hong Kong Electric and CLP Power, will reduce the burning of coal, a major source of air pollution in the southern Chinese city, at their plants, the government said.

We have already made proper arrangements with the two electric power companies. Throughout the equestrian events, they will increase the use of natural gas by 20 percent, Edward Yau, Hong Kong's secretary for the environment, told local broadcaster RTHK. We hope the measure will help improve Hong Kong's air quality, he said.

Concerns for the health of Olympic athletes and horses competing at the equestrian events were raised after pollution levels hit record highs in Beijing and Hong Kong last week.

Hong Kong was making arrangements for unstable weather forecast for the first few days of the events, which begin on Saturday.

The Hong Kong Observatory said it will likely rain and a typhoon was possible. It said Saturday it will issue more detailed weather forecasts for the competition venues and has provided seven-day forecasts to help with planning.