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Human Impacts in Antarctica 2011

Dear Michelle:

Does anybody you are with ever talk about ways to make traveling to and working in Antractica more sustainable from the point of view of fossil fuel consumption? You could argue that climate change is more threatening to Antarctica than local soil pollution, and yet we burn a lot of fossil fuels to get there and live there. How about fueling the aircraft with biofuels, generating electricity with wind, and producing some food locally? I know these are huge challenges, but they are technically possible, even on Mars.

yours always, Michael Wing PolarTREC Teacher Finland 2009

Tue, 11/22/2011 - 13:17

Michelle Brown

Hello fellow PolarTREC-er!What a great question. I was recently at an informal meeting with some
pretty important NSF people who asked the scientists here at McMurdo
what they envision the future of McMurdo to be like. There was a lot of
talk about using more technology so that the work at McMurdo could be
done more remotely, saving money and transportation costs. However, the
environmental aspects (i.e., using fossil fuel) was not discussed.
I will have to bring up this subject with scientists and staff here to
see what they think. I do know that there are attempts to use solar and
wind resources to generate electricity at remote sites, like the AGO
site I will be going to
(http://www.polartrec.com/expeditions/space-weather-monitoring-on-the-ant...).
Also, the New Zealand group at Scott Base has set up wind turbines to
generate electricity. There used to be a greenhouse here that could
grow some products locally as well, but none of this is near the level
that would show a serious concern for fossil fuel consumption.
Thank you for your question and I will be sure to bring it up at our
meals in the cafeteria, where there is access to most people who live
and work here!
Sincerely,
Michelle Brown

Tue, 11/22/2011 - 14:30

Michelle Brown

Hello fellow PolarTREC-er!What a great question. I was recently at an informal meeting with some
pretty important NSF people who asked the scientists here at McMurdo
what they envision the future of McMurdo to be like. There was a lot of
talk about using more technology so that the work at McMurdo could be
done more remotely, saving money and transportation costs. However, the
environmental aspects (i.e., using fossil fuel) was not discussed.
I will have to bring up this subject with scientists and staff here to
see what they think. I do know that there are attempts to use solar and
wind resources to generate electricity at remote sites, like the AGO
site I will be going to
(http://www.polartrec.com/expeditions/space-weather-monitoring-on-the-ant...).
Also, the New Zealand group at Scott Base has set up wind turbines to
generate electricity which is a shared project with the USAP (United
States Antarctic Program) group. There used to be a greenhouse here
that could grow some products locally as well, but none of this is near
the level that would show a serious concern for fossil fuel consumption.
In speaking to my research team, they brought up the fact that about
half of the fuel consumption here is from power usage. There has been a
huge effort to reduce energy consumption here at McMurdo with
fluorescent light bulbs, automated lights turning on and off, etc., as
some evidence of this.
Thank you for your question and I will be sure to bring it up at our
meals in the cafeteria, where there is access to most people who live
and work here!
Sincerely,
Michelle Brown