Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 2007

Cleaner Air Even before hybrid vehicles became fashionable in Hong Kong, CUHK introduced a completely exhaust- free, electric scooter fleet that is unique among universities here. These green scooters belonging to the Estates Management Office come with their own rechargeable batteries. Furthermore, the majority of campus school buses now comply with Euro III and IV emission standards, which set limits to the amount of pollutants that can be released into the environment. The few remaining old school buses that do not comply with the standards have been fitted with diesel oxidation catalysts to reduce smoke emission. To reduce vehicular traffic, the University makes traveling on foot more convenient. For instance, the Mong Man Wai Building on Central Campus now provides pedestrian access to New Asia College, while the William M.W. Mong Engineering Building has lifts that take users to the vicinity of the Science Building on Central Campus. 'When there is less CO 2 emission, trees are healthier; and when trees are thriving, there is less CO 2 . When the air is cleaner, people are more willing to walk. All these events are linked in a virtuous cycle,' remarks Prof. Liu. Our achievements at environmental protection have won recognition from the government and environmental groups. Clichéd though it may sound, the environment is everyone's business. So while we are busy wondering how to offset the carbon emitted by our last trip to Amsterdam, let us not forget to turn off the light before breezing off to lunch. Paper Recycling at CUHK 320 tonnes : volume of paper recycled in a year 5,500 : number of trees saved 36,500 kg : amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by those trees in a year 16,500 : number of people sustained by oxygen released by those trees in a year 1,350 MWh : amount of energy saved to power 320 computers for one year 6 Chinese University Bulletin