Princess Elisabeth Antarctica, located on Utsteinen Nunatak in

Queen Maud Land Queen Maud Land ( no, Dronning Maud Land) is a roughly region of Antarctica claimed by Norway as a dependent territory. It borders the claimed British Antarctic Territory 20° west and the Australian Antarctic Territory 45° east. In addi ...

(), is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

scientific polar research station, which went into service on 15 February 2009.

History

The station, designed, built and operated by the

International Polar Foundation Based in Brussels, Belgium, the International Polar Foundation (IPF) communicates and educates on polar science and polar research as a way to understand key environmental and climate mechanisms.efficient energy use Efficient energy use, sometimes simply called energy efficiency, is the process of reducing the amount of energy required to provide products and services. For example, insulating a building allows it to use less heating and cooling energy to ...

, optimization of the station's energy consumption and clever waste-management techniques. Testing phase in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and building construction in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

was coordinated by Belgian main contractor

BESIX BESIX Group is a construction group based in Brussels, one of the world's leading international contractors according to the ENR ranking. Active since 1909, BESIX operates in Europe, the Middle East, Oceania, Africa, North America and Asia. Its a ...

. The station is built against a ridge (The Utsteinen ridge) that is exposed to gales of up to . The station can withstand such strong winds through its aerodynamic shape and its foundation anchoring of several metres deep into the

permafrost Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surface ...

. Philippe Samyn, a Belgian architect, was involved in designing the shell and underlying structure. The upper deck of the building is the actual station and looks over the ridge edge. The lower deck contains a garage for

snowcat A snowcat (short for snow and caterpillar) is an enclosed-cab, truck-sized, fully tracked vehicle designed to move on snow. Major manufacturers are Pisten Bully (Germany), Prinoth (Italy) and Tucker (United States). Snow groomers A sno ...

vehicles and other utilities. The Princess Elisabeth base is the only

zero-emission Zero emission refers to an engine, motor, process, or other energy source, that emits no waste products that pollute the environment or disrupt the climate. Zero emission engines Vehicles and other mobile machinery used for transport (over land, se ...

base on the Antarctic, and runs on solar and wind energy through the use of a micro

smart grid A smart grid is an electrical grid which includes a variety of operation and energy measures including: *Advanced metering infrastructure (of which smart meters are a generic name for any utility side device even if it is more capable e.g. a f ...

, which has lead-acid batteries as well as backup generators. The station is connected to nine

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. ...

s that stretch out along the Utsteinen ridge. It houses up to 16 scientists at a time. The station is named after

Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant ( nl, Elisabeth Theresia Maria Helena; french: Élisabeth Thérèse Marie Hélène; born 25 October 2001) is the heir apparent to the Belgian throne. The eldest child of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde ...

, the eldest daughter of

King Philippe of Belgium french: Philippe Léopold Louis Mariegerman: Philipp Leopold Ludwig Maria , house = Belgium , father = Albert II of Belgium , mother = Paola Ruffo di Calabria , birth_date = , birth_place = Belvédère Castle, Laeken, ...

. During the

Covid pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

that started in 2020, 11 of 30Andreas Frei
''Wie Corona in die Antarktis kam – und was dabei optimistisch stimmt.''
In: ''

Tages-Anzeiger ''Tages-Anzeiger'' (), also abbreviated ''Tagi'' or ''TA'', is a Swiss German-language national daily newspaper published in Zurich, Switzerland. History and profile The paper was first published under the name ''Tages-Anzeiger für Stadt und ...

'', 5 January 2022, retrieved 6 January 2022. of the base's personnel contracted the disease in December 2021 despite having been vaccinated. The first case was a person who had arrived on 7 December, and was found to have covid on 14 December. The cases were mild, and none were expected to be evacuated on a flight scheduled for 12 January 2022.

Ownership dispute

There was a protracted dispute between the government of Belgium and the explorer Alain Hubert as to which party controls the base. The Belgian Government has alleged financial mismanagement by the base's private operators, the International Polar Foundation. Disputes over ownership and control of the base have led to a reduction in scientific research being undertaken at the base. As per ''

L'Echo ''L'Echo'' is a Belgian business newspaper, published by Mediafin and mainly distributed in Wallonia and Brussels. It is the French counterpart of the Flemish daily '' De Tijd'' which is its sister paper. History and profile ''L'Echo'' originat ...

'', the head of the

Belgian Federal Science Policy Office The Federal Public Planning Service Science Policy ( nl, Programmatorische Federale Overheidsdienst Wetenschapsbeleid; french: Service public fédéral de programmation Politique scientifique; german: Föderaler Öffentlicher Programmierungsdienst ...

, René Delcourt, has stated that no Belgian scientists would be sent to the station in 2017. The dispute was resolved on 9 June 2017 as a judgement ruled by the Belgian Council of State. Publicly announced on 30 June 2017 as the "Pax Antarctica", the settlement between the International Polar Foundation and the Belgian government includes the Belgian government fully owning the base, the International Polar Foundation receiving contracts to operate the base for the next six years, and a cessation of all legal proceedings. Research work resumed in November 2017, with 24 scientists from twelve countries expected at the base.

References

External links

Belgian Antarctic Research Station - Princess Elisabeth Station

International Polar Foundation

Belgian Polar Platform

The Princess Elisabeth Polar Station: a case study on Constructalia

A slideshow about the Princess Elisabeth Station, Allianz Knowledge, July 2008
COMNAP Antarctic Facilities

COMNAP Antarctic Facilities Map

The Pricess Elisabeth Station at Philippe Samyn and Partners
{{Authority control Princess Ragnhild Coast Sustainable buildings and structures Outposts of Queen Maud Land Belgium and the Antarctic 2009 establishments in Antarctica

History

Ownership dispute

See also

References

External links