Princess Elisabeth Antarctica: A Marvel of Sustainable Development

06 Mar 2009 - Articles, Logistics, Antarctic

The Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Station

On February 15th, 2009, the Brussels-based International Polar Foundation (IPF) officially inaugurated the new Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Station, the very first Antarctic research station ever designed and built to run entirely on renewable solar and wind energies.The new "zero emission" Belgian research station is the only research platform completed during the fourth International Polar Year (IPY) and constitutes Belgium's main contribution to IPY-4.

The Princess Elisabeth Station has been under construction for two years, and the project has involved contributions from countless dedicated individuals and corporations. The originality of the project, which was conceived, designed and financed by the IPF through public and private sponsorships, opens up new possibilities for the international community, and raises new standards for polar research.

Using specialised building design and materials, a passive heating system, an energy control system, energy efficient appliances, and sound insulation techniques, engineers from the IPF and its technical partners have managed to take a pioneering step forward in the domain of sustainable development.

"The Princess Elisabeth Station has been conceived so efficiently that it will require only 1/10th the energy needs of a normal building. Constructing the first 'zero-emission' research station in the Antarctic, despite its extreme climate and unfriendly weather conditions, is an achievement that goes to show that the necessary know-how and technology actually exist; the only thing missing in our society today is the confidence that we can successfully confront the future using the tools and experience we have at hand," according to Alain Hubert, President of the IPF and Director of the Princess Elisabeth Station project.

The history of Belgium in Antarctica goes back as far as 1898, when the Belgica expedition, lead by Adrien de Gerlache, became the first expedition ever to over-winter in Antarctica During the International Geophysical Year 1957-58, Belgium took on the construction of its first Antarctic base, the King Baudouin Station, which remained in operation for ten years, and in 1959 Belgium became one of the 12 original signatories of the Antarctic Treaty. The Princess Elisabeth Station is a fitting successor to the King Baudouin Station, bringing the tiny European country to the forefront of polar research once again.

PEA Station from a distance

The final on-site construction phase of the Princess Elisabeth Station took place during BELARE (Belgian Antarctic Research Expedition) 2008-09, with the objective of installing all of its functional systems (energy management, ventilation and waste water treatment). The station was also equipped with its inside facilities (kitchen equipment, furniture, medical equipment, etc.) and two cabins with scientific equipment outside. Loaded onboard the MSC Ivan Papanin ship in Antwerp, the technical systems of the station reached their final destination at Utsteinen, in Antarctica's Dronning Maud Land, around Christmastime 2008. The team on site thus had a little over two months to integrate the entire technical units inside the station, in time for the station's inauguration on February 15th.

Even before it was inaugurated several international research expeditions had already used the Princess Elisabeth Station as a base camp for their research activities during this past Antarctic season:

November and December 2008 - a team of glaciologists, lead by the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and comprised of scientists from the University of Aberystwyth and the University of Washington, studied the mass loss/gain of the Antarctic Ice Sheet in view of recent climate change.
January and February 2009 - microbiologists from the Université de Liège (ULg) and the Universiteit Gent (UGent) explored the diversity of microorganisms in the vicinity of the Sør Rondane Mountains with scientists from the Museum of Paris and the British Antarctic Survey.
January 2009 - the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium (IRM) started collecting data around the station with an international team of scientists comprised notably of a Russian and German.
January 2009 - a group of geoscientists from the Japanese National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR) studied geology around Utsteinen.

Further international science collaborations took place over the 2008-09 austral summer with the Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Géophysique de l'Environnement (LGGE) in the field of glaciology. Alain Hubert also installed beacons between the station, which is located about 200 km inland, and the coast, making it possible to gather snow accumulation data and monitor ice sheet movements.

Other countries and scientific institutes have also showed significant interest in the Princess Elisabeth Station. Participatory discussions have already been launched with the Swiss Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and other research programs in Luxembourg, the Netherlands, China and the United States. A significant number of requests from all over the world to either participate in Belgian-coordinated research at the station, or deploy foreign research programmes in the Utsteinen area have also been received.

In addition to its scientific mission, the Princess Elisabeth Station also serves as the main theme of an educational program coordinated by the IPF: Class Zero Emission. Launched at the beginning of March 2009, the new education initiative has been attracting teachers and students from all across Belgium. Class Zero Emission offers interactive lessons on climate change and sustainable development making use of the station's "zero emission" objectives and polar science programs.

By: Lise Johnson