The Princess Elizabeth Antarctic Station project was developed by the International Polar Foundation (IPF). It will be the world's first zero-CO2 research station and will be built using only environmentally friendly materials. Although the station will operate only on renewable energy sources, its energy consumption will still be minimal, as well as the amount of waste from its operation. Princess Elizabeth Antarctica will be built at the foot of a small mountain range near the Utsteinen nunatak, a few kilometers from the Sor Rondane ridge. It is planned to install eight wind turbines on this ridge, as well as 380 sq. m of solar panels: both at the station itself and around it. Due to this, the amount of energy consumed by the polar station will be only 20% of the standard amount for such objects.
The building will be heated from various passive and active sources, including a heat generation system that collects heat energy released by the station equipment devices during operation.
The Princess Elizabeth Antarctic Station is due to start operating next year.
Antarctica is the only continent on Earth with an environment almost unaffected by human activity. At the same time, it is there that the largest hole in the ozone layer of our planet is located. Therefore, no effort to maintain a sufficiently favorable ecological situation in Antarctica can be considered excessive.
UPD: In January 2009, the construction of the Princess Elizabeth Antarctic Station was completed in Antarctica.
