WC Archive

The Halley VI station in Antarctica (we noted the winning design just a couple of weeks ago) will be the first Halley station to make use of renewable energy. From the outset, Halley VI will make use of a solar thermal system for heating water, taking advantage of the 24-hour sunlight of the Antarctic summer; as the modular station grows, the design allows for the introduction of solar photovoltaic and wind power. Electricity generation is augmented by a special ultra-cold-weather diesel generator -- sorry, biodiesel fans, the South Pole's just too cold for anything other than a special aviation formulation of petrodiesel.

But given that petrodiesel may be harder to get by the time Halley VI is operational, the station's ability to use a variety of power sources means that replacing the diesel generator with an ultra-cold-weather fuel cell fortunately shouldn't be too much of a problem.