Electricity consumption and its environmental implications in two special administration regions: Hong Kong and Macao

Hong Kong and Macaos economies have growth continuously after the millennium. With the support from the central government, Hong Kong becomes one of the world finance centers and the largest initial public offering (IPO) market by fund-raising size while Macao is the worlds gaming center. In addition, Hong Kong and Macao welcomes 25 million or more visitors a year. Nevertheless, the commerce, services, and tourism industries consume a significant amount of resources during their service provision. Specifically, this paper identifies the sectoral and total electricity consumption in Hong Kong and Macao and explores possible trends for future consumption. The paper also determines the environmental impact of electricity consumption using greenhouse gases (GHG) emission. Results show that per capita GHG emission due to electricity consumption increased slightly from 4.01 tonne CO2-equivalent in 2000 to 4.26 tonne CO2-equivalent in 2010 in Hong Kong while it increased rapidly from 2.68 tonne CO2- equivalent in 2000 to 5.2 tonne CO2-equivalent in 2010 in Macao.