Zero Emissions station in Antarctica
September 8, 2007 9:56 am Research & Development, Sustainable LivingIn commemoration of the International Polar Year 2007-2008, the Belgian government has commissioned the first ever ‘zero emmissions’ polar research station. It will be assembled in its entirety at Tour & Taxi in Brussels Belgium. The entire project has been opened for public viewing at this website. Once fully assembled and inaugrated by the appropriate Belgian Royalty on September 5th 2007 (I hope they have chocolates), the station will be disassembled and transported to Antarctica to be re-assembled on site.
The base is intended to be fully functional using only local renewable energy sources available in Antarctica (with back-up diesel generators). It will provide a state of the art climate change laboratory for 16 scientists.
Princess Elisabeth will get its energy from wind and solar energy. There will be eight wind turbines installed on Utsteinen ridge next to the station, each of which will provide 6 kW of energy. This means a total of 48 kW of energy will be produced by wind power. As for solar energy, 109.5 m² of photovoltaic panels will be placed on the roof and outside walls of the station, plus an additional 270 m2 of panels on the rocks adjacent to the station. The panels will have an output of 50.6 kW (up to 800W/m² solar irradiation). The energy gathered by the wind turbines and solar panels will be stored in batteries located in the central core of the station.
Since the amount of renewable energy that can be collected and stored in the batteries is not without limit, it must be used efficiently. Designing the Princess Elisabeth Station to use energy as efficiently as possible has been the number one priority for the designers of the station from its conception on. Using an evolving design approach, simulation upon simulation was
carried out in order to determine the best possible design that would maximise the station’s energy efficiency.In addition to an efficient design, the station will use an energy control and monitoring system coupled with energy efficient appliances. This will keep energy use within the station to a minimum. In the end, the Princess Elisabeth Station will use only 20% of the energy needs required by an Antarctic station of comparable size.
Solar active and passive heating techniques, as well as the recycling of heat energy which is passively emitted by the main systems and equipment of the station will produce more than enough thermal energy to heat the base. Sound insulation will ensure that no thermal energy is lost. This means that, strange as it may seem, it will not be necessary to heat the Princess
Elisabeth Station while it is in use during the austral summer.
If energy self sufficiency can be demonstrated in such extreme environments, it should quite possible to repeat this feat in American suburbia without going to great expense. Both private and public sectors need to step up and perhaps build several ’sustainable households’ as living demonstrations of how each home can function as a near zero emmissions, energy efficient entity. With all the political clout exercized by the energy and oil lobby in Washington, one wonders how long it will take the Feds to understand the need to reduce our energy footprint.