What is

Environmental
Engineering?
Environmental Engineering
Application of science and engineering principles to
develop solutions to environmental problems.
Professor Irene M. C. Lo, PhD, FHKIE, FASCE
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Video: Environmental Engineering Career
Overview (~ 2 mins)
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Environmental Problems and Law

Land Solid Waste Water
Land Contamination:
Contamination Disposal Pollution Noise Pollution Air Pollution
A serious problem in
Hong Kong?

Environmental legislation I: Waste Disposal Ordinance Cap. 354

Environmental legislation II: Water Pollution Control Ordinance Cap. 358
Environmental legislation III: Air Pollution Control Ordinance Cap. 311
Environmental legislation IV: Noise Pollution Control Ordinance Cap. 400
Environmental legislation V: Environmental Impact Ordinance Cap. 499

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 Former Kai Tak Airport Former Kai Tak Airport
– North Apron Contaminants detected:
– Total Petroleum
– South Apron Hydrocarbons (TPH)
– Runway – Volatile Organic
Compounds (VOCs)
– Heavy Metals

North
Apron
South
Apron

Runway
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Future Kai Tak- Former Penny’s Bay

New Iconic Cruise Terminal Contaminated by Cheoy Lee
Shipyard

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Former Penny’s Bay Contaminated Site Investigation and Remediation
by Cheoy Lee Shipyard
Contaminants detected:
– Total Petroleum
Hydrocarbons (TPH)
– Volatile Organic Compounds
(VOCs)
– Heavy Metals
– Dioxins

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Today’s Disney Theme Park

What is Solid Waste?

Is it a serious
problem in Hong
Kong?

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 Municipal Solid Waste in
Landfills in Hong Kong
kg/inhabitant/yr Be saturated in 2017

Be saturated
in 2019
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Sustainable Waste Management How to provide

Waste Avoidance motivation for
+ waste reduction,
3Rs Recycling, and
Reuse?

Incineration Landfilling
 MSW Waste Charging Scheme

Will this waste

charging scheme
reduce waste
generation?

Food Waste
Processing
to Fish Food

Produce high protein

Fish food.
Out of 9000 tonnes/day MSW
disposed of at landfill, 3600 tonnes/d Added value product:
Is food waste. $250/t Æ $ 2000/t
 Point and Nonpoint Sources
Water Pollution: NONPOINT SOURCES

A serious problem Rural homes

in Hong Kong? Urban streets Cropland

Animal feedlot

Suburban POINT
development SOURCES
Factory

Wastewater
treatment
plant

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Water Becomes Wastewater After Use

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2A

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 Clean Victoria Harbor Noise Pollution: A
serious problem
in Hong Kong?

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Sound? or Noise?

Source: Hong Kong Environmental

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Protection Department
 Source vs. Receiver Loud Noise Must Be Annoyed?
All noise doesn’t have to be too loud. Some noise can
just be annoying enough to produce such bad effects
as stress, tension, and anxiety.

Source: U.S. Environmental

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Source: Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department Protection Agency

Photochemical Smog in HK
(Outdoor Air Pollution)
Air Pollution: A
serious problem
in Hong Kong?
Regional Air Pollution: Outdoor & Indoor
Global Air Pollution: Acid rain & Climate change

Video: Hong Kong Air Pollution (~ 4 mins)

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 API Air Quality Health Index
(old system)
• The Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) to replace the Air
Pollution Index (API) from 30 December 2013.
Low 0-25
• The AQHIs are reported on a scale of 1 to 10 and 10+
Medium 26-50
High 51-100
and are grouped into five health risk categories.
Very High 101-200 • AQHIs are calculated based on the cumulative health
Severe 201-500 risk attributable to the 3‐hour moving average
concentrations of four air pollutants namely, ozone
(O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and
particulate matter (PM2.5 / PM10).

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Climate Change-Greenhouse Gas Emission

Indoor Air Quality (Global Air Pollution)
Sick Building Syndrome: Fatigue, nasal congestion and headache

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 Observed Global Climate Change
Introduction to the CIC Carbon Labelling Scheme
I. Climate Change and GHG

Buildings and Construction

Contribution to Global CO2 Emissions
sea ice
level in #1. Building and Construction (>40%)
2012

sea ice level in 1992

#2. Transportation (~20%)
#3. Industry (~20%)

Buildings in Hong Kong accounted for 60% of total local GHG emissions Æ
Development of Low carbon construction in HK
Source: NASA/Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio Source: International Energy Agency (2012) CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion
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Source: IPCC (2013)

To be or not to be
an Environmental
Engineer?

Video: I wanna be an Environmental Engineer

(~ 1 min)

Print out course notes early and get started!

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