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Force machines keeping clean and green
 Fill her up!: SIP Henry Wong and SPC Kwok Yu-tong top up with the new fuel |
Police vehicles are switching to ultra-low sulphur diesel (ULSD) to help make our home a cleaner and healthier place to live.
In line with Government policy, the Police diesel fleet is switching to the fuel which helps cut the choking black smoke and particulate emissions commonly associated with diesel vehicles.
In order to ensure ULSD purity, diesel pumps and tanks Force-wide are being emptied and cleaned of their old stocks before the clean one is used. Project officer, Hong Kong Island Regional Motor Transport Officer Henry Wong Yiu-chuen said the move involved considerable organisation and co-ordination of Police refuelling facilities. And to optimise resources, one of the Police Training School petrol pumps and tanks was converted to diesel to give the Force an internal supply of ULSD on Hong Kong Island.
"We used to have nine diesel pumps and tanks and this new converted one at PTS is now the 10th, and the first to stock ULSD," Senior Inspector Wong said.
"We have not had a diesel pump in HKI since the old one in Police Headquarters was dismantled as part of the PHQ redevelopment."
OffBeat caught the first Police lorry being fuelled with the new diesel on August 7 at PTS.
The Force's 380-strong diesel fleet also includes buses and minibuses, Land Rover four-wheel drives and large Mercedes-Benz vans.
SIP Wong said: "The cleaning of the diesel tanks before filling them with ULSD is not an essential measure but it will ensure that, environmentally, the Force vehicles get the best results from the new fuel."
ULSD is now available in at least one tank in each Region and commercial filling stations have also begun to stock the fuel.
The Force's remaining diesel facilities will be converted to ULSD by the end of September, and the work has been contracted out through the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department.
The Force is actively examining the possibility of using electric, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and other alternative fuel vehicles, mainly as logistics vehicles, where operational efficiency would not be affected.